In a seven-page summary judgement ruling released March 27, U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs in Columbia, S.C., wrote that Gagne has not shown that SAFE's (performance) expectations (of the former CEO) were a "sham designed to hide the [its] discriminatory purpose."

Gagne's disability issues started in 2013 when she began suffering from chronic gastrointestinal health problems that progressively became worse and caused her to be late or absent from work and occasionally affected her attendance at meetings, including meetings with NCUA examiners. And in 2016, the former CEO was diagnosed with bilateral knee osteoarthritis, which limited her typical daily activities and required surgery and rehabilitation.

Under Gagne's 16-year CEO tenure, the credit union grew from $336 million in 2001 to $1 billion in assets in 2016, her last year on the top job when she was fired by the board of directors for a number of performance issues that began in 2014.

Judge Childs based her ruling on a magistrate judge's report that reviewed the undisputed facts of the case and legal arguments presented in court documents by Gagne and SAFE.

"The Magistrate Judge correctly considered a myriad of performance issues cited by SAFE for Gagne's declining performance, not only her (NCUA) exam results," Judge Childs wrote in her summary judgement ruling. "The Magistrate Judge noted that multiple sources identified problems with Gagne's execution of her duties as CEO. Not only board members, but members of her executive team, outside consultants and the credit union's regulators also faulted Gagne for various problems."

Gagne missed important meetings with NCUA regulators during and after their exams from 2014 to 2016, and she allegedly failed to address significant compliance concerns, including "repeat findings" and a CAMEL 3 management rating, according to SAFE's court documents.

The NCUA also issued a Document of Resolution regarding Bank Secrecy Act compliance issues. A CAMEL rating of 3 indicated management and board performance needs improvement or risk management practices that are less than satisfactory given the nature of the credit union's activities, according to the NCUA. However, the credit union received a positive composite CAMEL score of 2.

Even though the SAFE board intended to replace Gagne with Penny Pratt, who is 10 years younger than Gagne, Darrell Merkel was named the new CEO, who is much older than Gagne, the judge wrote regarding the age discrimination claim.

Pratt left SAFE in December 2016 to serve as president/CEO of the $520 million Family Trust Federal Credit Union in Rock Hill, S.C.