AURORA, Colo.–Two former executives with a credit union here have filed a lawsuit alleging they were fired because they saw the CEO using cocaine, an accusation that has been met with a vehement denial.
Matt Cochran and his wife, Mindy Ganze, filed the wrongful termination suit against Partner Colorado Credit Union, its CEO, Sundie Seefried, and others alleging their terminations were the result of having witnessed Seefried using cocaine several times, according to Marijuana Business Daily.
The high-profile Seefried leads a credit union that along with its CUSO, Safe Harbor Services, are well-known for services provided to the state’s marijuana industry. Cochran formerly ran Safe Harbor Services, while Gaze served as operations manager. The couple filed the lawsuit on Jan. 30.
“I deny the allegations contained in the complaint filed by Matt Cochran and Mindy Ganze. I have counsel and intend to aggressively defend myself against the frivolous lawsuit filed by Safe Harbor’s ex-employees,” said Seefried in a statement to CUToday.info. “There are more findings than just the summary of findings that Mr. Cochran and Ms. Ganze have provided, but I cannot comment on the detailed findings in order to protect the privacy of employees, including Mr. Cochran and Ms. Ganze. I look forward to getting vindication in the courts but prefer to keep court matters in the courts.”
In the complaint Cochran states he began consulting for Partner Colorado in March 2017 before being hired in July 2017 to lead Safe Harbor Services.
The lawsuit alleges that Seefried fired Ganze because she saw the CEO use cocaine on at least five occasions, Marijuana Business Daily reported, adding that Ganze also states she served as Seefried’s personal assistant.
“Ms. Seefried wanted to terminate Ms. Ganze so that, in the event Ms. Ganze reported this cocaine use, Ms. Seefried could argue that Ms. Ganze was doing so to retaliate for her own termination,” the lawsuit alleges.
Safe Harbor Services responded by saying an investigation conducted by the Denver law firm Spectrum Legal Group on the credit union’s behalf found that there was no truth to the claims, Marijuana Business Daily reported, saying the investigation “concluded the husband and wife fabricated the allegations.”
The complaint further alleges that an attorney for Wright-Patt Federal Credit Union in Ohio allegedly told Cochran that he suspected Seefried was “on something” while giving a presentation in early November to “six financial institutions/potential customers” at a seminar.
“According to the summary, Cochran and Ganze fabricated allegations about Seefried’s leadership fitness and alleged cocaine use after hearing that the CEO planned to terminate Cochran because of his involvement in a separate, unrelated lawsuit. In that suit, Cochran allegedly misled an investor in a private stock deal,” Marijuana Business Daily reported.
Reportedly, prior to the filing of the lawsuit, the parties were unable to reach a settlement.