Communication between former U.S. Central FCU executive Dave Dickens' legal firm and the NCUA said the NCUA reneged on U.S. Central's pre-conservatorship severance offer to Dickens.
A Feb. 19 letter from Kansas City law firm Lathrop & Gage to the NCUA Board refers to Dickens' March 11 severance offer in which then CEO Francis Lee offered Dickens $762,831 worth of severance pay and benefits in accordance with his employment contract. Dickens had just been cleared in an internal investigation regarding whether his conduct would have prevented U.S. Central from having to fulfill the obligation.
However, upon conservatorship, the NCUA apparently adjusted the payout to include far less accrued time off, and took away Dickens' $21,396 in COBRA health insurance premium payments, for a total of nearly $47,000.
The letter said NCUA and Dickens agreed to a Dec. 23, 2009 Release of Claims and Covenant Not to Compete, and it appears Dickens only disagrees with the unpaid benefits, and is asking for compensation for legal fees accrued during his internal cause investigation.
