STANFORD — A former employee of PBK Bank has filed a lawsuit against the bank alleging that bank officials conspired to make him the fall guy for their bad banking decisions.
David Woodall, former manager of the PBK branch in Mount Vernon, filed the complaint last week in Lincoln Circuit Court. Among the defendants are PBK president Jack Johnson, CEO¿Bruce Edgington, secretary Stanley Buris, CFO Joye Hunt and several members of the bank’s board of directors. Also named is Ralph Weikel, of Performance Management, an outside firm that was called in to review the bank’s practices.
Neither PBK nor any of the other defendants have yet responded to the allegations in the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, Woodall worked at the bank from 2004 until he was terminated in March of last year. He was fired, the complaint states, because he complained to the board that he believed “co-workers were falsifying reports, omitting reports, altering his reports and other reports, and changing minutes of meetings.”
Edgington told Woodall that Hunt had lied about Woodall to Weikel, who was reviewing the bank’s practices. The complaint also alleges Edgington and Weikel conspired with other bank officials “to shift blame for bad banking practices from Edgington to Woodall.”
Woodall’s attorney, Jerry Cox of Mount Vernon, declined on Thursday to elaborate on the alleged “bad banking practices” or any other specifics of the case until after the defendants have filed their responses.
The lawsuit alleges that Woodall was the subject of harrassment and retaliation, including being demoted and ultimately being fired, because he complained about the improper practices at the bank.
He also suffered emotional stress and embarrasment. He has lost wages and health insurance, and is no longer able to work in the banking industry, the complaint states.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages against the bank and the defendants in their official and individual capacities.
