The former chief executive of Community Link Federal Credit Union in Huntington, Ind., claims he was fired as head of the $20 million-asset credit union because he shared information with examiners for the National Credit Union Administration on potential conflicts of interest on the board and other regulatory violations.
According to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Indiana, James Countryman, who was hired in 1999 to lead the credit union, told the chairman of the credit union's board that he expected the NCUA in a 2006 examination to raise objections that two of the five members of the supervisory committee were members of the chairman's family. Countryman said that in 2007 he told the NCUA of several credit union practices he believed were in violation of state or federal laws and regulations.
The complaints led the NCUA to issue a supervisory agreement against the credit union.
The month before the NCUA was preparing for a June 2009 examination at the credit union, the board fired Countryman, who had pledge to cooperate fully with the examiners. The lawsuit charges that the credit union fired Countryman "in retaliation for him agreeing to provide information to the NCUA Board and/or examiner in violation of the Federal Credit Union Act."
Lawyers for the credit union could not be reached for comment.
