Through the Looking Glass–Part 1

RUMORS

On April 2, 2012, Priority One Credit Union's President, Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. revealed that Paul F. Schimley, one of the credit union's overpaid attorneys from the firm of Richardson Harmon Ober PC had allegedly proclaimed a victory in the complaint filed by a former Business Development Representative against the credit union. Allegedly and according to Mr. Schimley, the Plaintiff had become uncooperative and refused to enter into a settlement offered up by the credit union. 

According to the giddy and elated President who knows about as much about the judicial system as he does about developing new business, the Plaintiff's attorney had not only agreed with the terms offered by the credit union's attorney but had suddenly changed his mind about his client's case and declared that it was indeed frivolous. The President's statements were later repeated by Director of Project Management, Yvonne Boutte, who said the Plaintiff's case had "been thrown out by the court." Evidently, the intellectually challenged President has found equally incompetent allies in Attorney Schimley, in the brash Mrs. Boutte and in the Plaintiff's attorney, Joseph L. Lovretovich. 

So why would Attorneys Paul F. Schimley and Joseph Lovretovich possibly violated ethics and set themselves up for a potential lawsuit and divulge information that can only be determined by a judge? And why did the President and Mrs. Boutte choose to commit slander and violate the credit union's own hypocritically guarded policy governing confidentiality?  

Not only did the undisciplined attorneys and executives choose to conduct themselves unethically, but on April 3, 2012, Priority MC, a frequent poster on this blog and a company insider, posted the following comment about the Plaintiff:

"P1 just crushed another frivellous suit from you folks. Last week Qunones lawyer announced he's quitting. Se ya Qunones. Wouldn't wanna be ya. You bloggers best be paying attention and learn something from this lesson. Ok Linda [Nisely] got a little something broke off but it was so little that it didn't matter.After her attorney got what they got, she'd have been better taking the severence offer that she wouldd've got. Think people think." 

It's not difficult to guess the ethnicity of Priority MC or for that matter, her level of education. The comment contains highly confidential information that could only have come from President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. Priority MC's inane and presumptuous statement also provoked an avalanche of reader comments. 

A few days after publishing her comment, Priority MC tried to rescind what she wrote and published the following statement:

Priority One MC said...

It's nothing related to you bloggers. All you are done with. Sharnese Nylonda got P1 involved iwht an auto insurance situation that's in court. That's all there is. Now try doing what you suppose to be doing for a change.

April 10, 2012 7:38 PM

Priority MC did a 180. Her attempt to retract what she wrote on April 3, 2012, was an extremely lane attempt to deter attention away from the President as the culprit who divulged confidential information about the former Business Development Representative and a former member named Sharnese Nylonda. Priority MC as an employee of the credit union violated the Privacy Act. 

The ploy constitutes a possible violation of the Privacy Act which is a federal offense. Priority MC has indicated that Sharnese Nylonda has involved the credit union in an auto insurance case which has proceeded to court. Evidently, the only reason why the credit union would be involved is if Sharnese Nylonda had obtained an automobile loan from the credit union. The subject is deemed confidential under the law. well maybe not to the credit union but it is a serious breach. 

As stated below, the Privacy Act states that it is a violation to share confidential information.

Financial institution regulators are to establish "standards" (related to the physical security and integrity of customer records) that would (1) ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records; (2) protect against any anticipated threats to the security of such records; and (3) to protect against unauthorized access to such records that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to the customer.

On April 13, 2012 an anonymous poster who we believe is Priority MC, posted the following comment:

Anonymous said...

Nylonda Sharnese had an auto loan with priority one. She ran with a car for two years without making a payment and when we got close to repossessing her car she made a partial payment and ran again.

April 13, 2012 8:53 PM 

The possible violation of the Privacy Act which occurred when Priority MC posted a comment on April 10, 2012, was exacerbated by the comment posted on April 13, 2012. It doesn't take any great ability in deducement to see that whoever posted the information about Sharnese Nylonda is a member of the Credit Resolutions Department. Only someone who has access to member accounts that have been referred over to collection proceedings would possess intimate knowledge about Sharnese Nylonda. 

Segueing for a moment, the credit union's attorneys at Richardson Harmon Ober PC reminded us that in 2011, the firm fabricated a defense in the lawsuit filed by former Burbank Branch Manager, Linda Nisely, which attempted to portray the Plaintiff as a racist, as incompetent, and as insubordinate despite the conspicuous fact that while employed by the credit union, Mrs. Nisely never received a single warning alleging her failure to fulfill her assigned duties nor was she issued a single warning which accused her of racism. Furthermore, she was promoted from Assistant Branch Manager of the Valencia office to Branch Manager of the Burbank office. Despite proclamations by the law firm that Mrs. Nisely's case would be thrown out because it was frivolous, Priority One voluntarily settled the lawsuit. Evidently, the credit union has found attorneys who are as ethical, as dignified and as ethical as is President Charles R. Wiggington, Sr.  

In our post, titled "A Lawsuit, Hiding the Facts, and Misrepresentation, Part 2 of 2”, published on Monday, July 18, 2011, we described some of the allegations contained in the lawsuit filed by the former Business Development Representative. Here is an excerpt from our original post:

The second lawsuit, filed this past June by a former Business Development Representative and who wrote the credit union’s policies and procedures. The former employee, Qunones, alleges that in 2010, he was advised by a non-employee of the credit union, that his employment was being terminated based upon three key violations of credit union policy. These are: 

• Having downloaded pornographic images from his company assigned PC;
• Sexually harassing his co-workers; and
• Being the blogger, a blogger, an acquaintance of the blogger or bloggers or possessing knowledge of who the blogger or bloggers are, and knew who the blogger’s confederates are.

In January 2011, then Human Resources "clerk" Esmeralda Sandoval, denied the credit union ever committed any of the allegations described in the lawsuit though based only on the documented record of egregious acts committed by and under President Wiggington over the past five (5) years and with consideration of Miss Sandoval’s own reprehensible conduct over the past few years, we doubt the veracity of anything she has to say 

JUGGLING ACT

In addition to complicating their legal problems, the talkative President and some of his 
managerial staff recently disclosed information pertaining to the lawsuit filed by the last Branch Manager of the no longer existent Valencia office. That lawsuit differs from the lawsuits filed by the former Burbank Branch Manager and Business Development Representative in that it reveals the disturbingly obsessive behaviors of former COO, Beatrice Walker. 

President Wiggington; Director of Project Management, Yvonne Boutte; and AVP, Joseph Garcia, have recently actually admitted that Ms. Walker tried to force a "friendship" with the Valencia Branch Manager and when her unwanted efforts failed, the slighted COO launched a ruthless and scathing campaign intended to destroy the reputation of the branch manager. Not only did the COO allegedly violate federal and state laws her schemes against the branch known became common knowledge at the main branch in South Pasadena and though Human Resources was well aware of her tirade, neither Senior Vice President, Rodger Smock, who oversees Human Resources or his assistant, Esmeralda Sandoval, chose to remind Ms. Walker that her behaviors were violating the branch manager's rights as described under state and federal law. 

What's more, the President, under direction of Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, invalidated the branch manager's allegations against Ms. Walker, determining that the conflict between both women was simply a "personality conflict.:" It's the same methodology employed by Mrs. Harris-Brooks in 2008, when she determined that President Wiggington had been encouraged to verbalize sexualized statements and inappropriately place his hands on a former employee's thighs over a period of years. Mrs. Harris-Brooks is apparently a one-trick pony. 

The President has also recently disclosed that at the time the Branch Manager was allegedly being persecuted by Ms. Walker, that he conducted a fair and impartial investigation. Yes, the man who was found to have sexually harassed a former employee conducted a fair and impartial investigation. He's also recently stated that Ms. Walker acted on her own volition without knowledge of the credit union and reminded some of his staff that she was terminated last year, due to insubordination.

It's not surprising that the President is again trying to escape accountability and declare his innocence. This is after all the same old tactic always resorted to by the immature and undisciplined President. The President may have forgotten that Ms. Walker was his friend long before she was hired to work for the credit union on June 1, 2009. He apparently doesn't remember that he hired her to identify and target "enemy" employees for expulsion. The President also disclosed that Rodger Smock was the recipient of the notice that the credit union is being sued by the last Valencia Branch Manager. 

SEX AS A WEAPON

The former Business Development Representative alleges that on the day he was terminated, the President accused him of downloading same-sex pornography from the Internet using his  company assigned computer; and of sexually harassing coworkers. The employee was terminated by the President while an unidentified forensics investigator was present. 

We've learned that the forensics investigator, an Asian male, was never introduced by name by the President and participated in the meeting as a type of witness. What's more, the forensics investigator had visited the South Pasadena branch over a period of weeks during which he was exempted from signing the visitor roster located atop the reception desk. What's more, he was seen leaving the branch in the company of Esmeralda Sandoval and Joseph Garcia, both of who provided him with "testimonies" of employees they both "knew" were the blogger or bloggers and "confederates" of the blogger/bloggers. 

What we find interesting is that Charles R. Wiggington, Sr., a proven sexual harasser, accused and terminated an employee for sexual harassment though refusing to provide evidence proving his accusations. What's more, at Priority One the subject of "sex" seems pervasive.  In addition to the 2008 investigation which proved Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. sexually harassed a former employee, there are other male officers of the credit union who have brought their indulgence with sex into the credit union. 

• Director of Human Resources, Rodger Smock, had a relationship with a young male employee assigned to the South Pasadena Member Services Department. Then South Pasadena Branch Manager, Gema Pleitez, and Consumer Loan Officer, Georgina Duenas, told staff that they were invited to a party at Mr. Smock's home during which several female employees swam in the pool while Mr. Smock remained in the house with the male employee. Periodically, Mr. Smock would emerge from his home and refill the women's glasses with alcohol. One of the women was so inebriated, she stripped off all her clothes. Mr. Smock would meet the male employee in the Member Services Department during which he would straighten the younger man's tie and straighten his collar. Their relationship was sufficiently conspicuous to prompt then South Pasadena Branch Manager, Betty Hilliard to ask"Why are they carrying on like that?" 

• Over the years, the former CFO in South Pasadena would tell Mr. Wiggington, Mr. Smock and other officers about the pornographic websites he visited while at work, using his company computer. 

• For years, Mr. Smock received numerous complaints from mostly female employees which alleged that the Director of Lending was sexually harassing and abusing them. Mr. Smock refused to investigate the complaints. 

• In 2010, Mr. Smock was forced to speak to Joseph Garcia regarding complaints lodged by female employees accusing the Loan Manager of touching them inappropriately. 

• In 2010, COO, Beatrice Walker was accused of same-sex sexual harassment and of stalking the Valencia Branch Manager. .

BEATRICE STALKER

According to the President, amongst the many heinous accusations leveled against the credit union, are allegations that former COO, Beatrice Walker, stalked the last Valencia Branch Manager. We're not surprised by the accusations nor it particularly shocking that sex is again an issue which the credit union is apparently unable to extricate itself from. And though we are not surprised, the real question that should be asked is why is sex such a problem in Priority One's workplace? 

Is it so difficult for some of the credit union's executive sector to control behaviors that are wholly inappropriate in the workplace? One reason why the problem is so prevalent can be attributed to Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, who intentionally suppressed evidence in 2008 proving Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. sexually harassed a former employee. Her actions may have been construed as a green light by some executives that if they violate state and federal laws prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace, that they will readily be protected by the Board of Directors and in particular, it's Chair, Mrs. Harris-Brooks. 

Apparently, Ms. Walker did not respond well to having her overtures for an alleged friendship, rejected. The emotionally wounded COO, easily recruited the assistance of AVP, Sylvia Perez, who was desperate seeking acceptance by Ms. Walker who had chided her and often treated her with disdain. 

Ms. Walker and Mrs. Perez visited the Valencia branch will the branch manager was away on medical leave. During their visits, the two met with staff at that location and easily manipulated them into believing that they each had a more promising future at the credit union if they would distance themselves from their branch manager. It worked. The reason why their conspiracy succeeded is easy to deduce. Priority One has underpaid staff and under Charles R. Wiggington, Sr., collusion festers. 

The single White woman went further. She ordered all AVP's and Branch Managers not to communicate with the Valencia Branch Manager upon her return and they all complied, including then Loan Manager, Joseph Garcia; AVP, Joseph Garcia; and Van Nuys Branch Manager, Ceclia Pereyra. Ms. Walker felt validated though she had no idea that within a year, she would succumb to termination. 

So the credit union which ignored the Valencia Branch Manager's pleas, now has to contend with a lawsuit that accuses Ms. Walker of creating a hostile working environment; of harassment; of same-sex sexual harassment; of retaliation; coercion; and stalking. What's more, the President and Board Chair were well aware of the campaign perpetrated by the disturbed Ms. Walker but both not only chose to enact remedial measures and stop her violations of state and federal law, they actually tried to invalidate the branch manager's complaints and relegate them to nothing more than a conflict of personalities. 

Many employees were aware that both Ms. Walker and the Valencia Branch Manager both live in the Santa Clarita Valley but what few people know is that after the branch manager resigned and left the state with her husband on vacation, someone entered her property and poisoned her dogs. One dog died and the other survived after remaining hospitalized for several days. Coincidence? 

Hell Hath No Fury Like a COO Scorned

BOARDING UP ANOTHER BRANCH 

Irked that we reported the Burbank branch would close it's doors on May 31, 2012, President Wiggington has rescheduled it's closure to take place in June 2012. Yes, his decision is fueled by pride and more than a little inane. Like former COO, Beatrice Walker, President Wiggington has many issues with controlling his emotional reactions to almost any stimuli. 

With new the Burbank branch will remain open for just a few more days, AVP, Joseph Garcia, disclosed that the credit union intends to mail letters to all members in the city of Burbank announcing the branch's impending closure. According to Mr. Garcia, the letter will help "avoid problems." Problems? What problems does the credit union foresee happening?

Mr. Garcia's statement is a reflection of the gross ineptitude marring the credit union's managerial sector. It's really a statement that says absolutely nothing other than the credit union expects something bad to transpire as a result of the branch's closing. 

We don't see many problems arising from the closure. The largest sector of members in Burbank are employed by Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and as we've reported since 2010, they have grown increasingly displeased with the caliber of service being dispensed by Priority One. The hospital's administrators has also limited the amount of time representatives of the credit union can meet with it's staff and no longer allow the credit union to attend new hire orientations.

To justify closure of the Burbank branch, the President has recently maligned the entire staff of the Burbank branch, stating they have all failed to meet their assigned monthly quotas. According to Mr. Garcia, as a result of the staff's failure, none will be offered employment at any of the credit union's remaining branches including AVP, Sylvia Perez. 

The President has also offered a solution to members who wish to continue using their credit union accounts. He has disclosed that members can utilize Shared Branching, surcharge free ATM's or visit the Van Nuys branch. Contrary to what the President believes, none of these are solutions, they are quick, ineffective fixes.  The concept and purpose of Shared Branching is apparently something the President is unable to grasp. Shared Branching can be a wonderful convenience if you'd like to deposit or withdraw money when you are nowhere near one of your credit union's branch locations. It is however useless if you wish to resolve disputes involving your accounts or loans. You also can't apply for a loan using Shared Branching or provide proofs of documents requested by your credit union. It has it's limitations. We advise closing your Priority One accounts and opening an account with a bank or credit union conveniently located to your home or where you work. 

As we predicted, the new Santa Clarita branch is faring poorly. Members are not interested in it's inconvenient location. In late 2011, the President boasted that there is no reason to advertise the location because people would want to be become members of the credit union. He was of course wrong and his statement reaffirms that Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. is ignorant about the importance of marketing. Who would have guessed? 

In 2010, when the beautiful and successful Valencia branch closed, the President told some of his staff that it was unimportant to him if members in the Santa Clarita Valley closed their accounts because in his opinion, they were disloyal to the credit union and many had only become members to obtain one of the special promotions, i.e., low APR vehicle loans, periodically offered by the credit union. Evidently, the credit union needs business from people living and working in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Another problem we cited in 2011 concerns the location of the Santa Clarita branch which is outside of downtown Valencia, in a primarily agricultural zone and located at the base of the hill where the Santa Clarita mail processing center stands. Only two months after it's opening, the President is starting to complain that if business doesn't improve dramatically in the very near future, he may have to close the location. We predict it will close in the very near future. 

To be continued........