DALLAS — Nearly two years after three former Texans Commercial Capital executives filed a lawsuit against the Texans Credit Union CUSO for defamation, a Dallas County jury ruled yesterday that the plaintiffs were wrongly terminated.
Former Texans Commercial President/CEO John C. O'Shea, Paul J. Valdez, former senior vice president/CFO, and Joel B. Fox, former executive vice president and chief operating officer were fired in 2006 by David Addison, president/CEO of $2 billion Texans CU, in a convoluted case involving defamatory statements, discussions of a bank conversion, a possible sale of Texans Commercial to a larger CU and unpaid compensation packages, according to the petition.
O'Shea, Valdez and Fox are entitled to $1 million each, said Hal Gillespie, an attorney with Gillespie, Rozen, Watsky & Jones P.C., who represented the plaintiffs.
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"They were defamed. With your career, it's the equivalent of being killed and someone asking 'how are you doing,'" Gillespie said.
In a statement, Texans CU said "Monday's verdict was disappointing. Since Texans is currently discussing options for appeal, we are limited to what we can discuss publicly. Texans will continue to vigorously defend itself against the many inaccurate and untrue allegations contained in the lawsuit," said Matt Davis, executive vice president, Texans CU.
Earlier this month, Texans CU told Credit Union Times that it sold its majority interest in Texans Commercial in late 2007 as a means to pursue capital outside of the CU industry.
This is the second time in as many months that the legal system has ruled against Texans CU. In July, an arbitrator concluded that Kevin M. Curley, president of Texans Insurance Group, was wrongly terminated in April 2007 and was entitled to his job back and back pay. Texans CU said Curley was reinstated on Sept. 1.
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