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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit stating that an Arizona credit union retaliated against a former executive for allegedly informing an NCUA chief examiner that he was being pressured to report inaccurate financial forecasts that would have inflated future earnings.
But U.S District Court Judge Jennifer G. Zipps in Phoenix ruled last month that the $293 million AEA Federal Credit Union in Yuma fired its former vice president of accounting and finance, Michael Dunton, for a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason – his poor performance.
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Dunton, who was terminated in August 2017, claimed in his lawsuit that AEA President/CEO Adele Sandberg was looking to "puff up" the numbers so that the forecasts would be much higher and favorable for the credit union. He also alleged that Sandberg instructed him not to meet with an NCUA chief examiner and that if he did, Sandberg would consider it insubordination.
According to Judge Zipps' ruling, however, Dunton testified in depositions that no one at AEA asked him to falsify any of the underlying financial data and that Sandberg never asked Dunton to "puff up" the forecast numbers.
What's more, Sandberg instructed another executive to set up a meeting between Dunton and the NCUA examiner, though Dunton refused because he had been allegedly told not to meet with the examiner, according to the judge's ruling.
"AEA produced undisputed evidence showing that Dunton was terminated because he consistently failed to perform well, failed to meet deadlines and exhibited poor communications with his peers and subordinates," Judge Zipps wrote in her ruling. "Dunton does not refute the reason for his termination, nor does he present any evidence from which a juror could reasonably conclude that retaliation motivated AEA's termination of Dunton."
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
