NEW YORK–A federal judge has dismissed a demand by the $ 4.3-billion Municipal Credit Union that the court dismiss allegations by a former senior executive who claims her supervisors ignored and retaliated against her over complaints of sexual harassment by former MCU President/CEO Kam Wong, who is now in prison.
In her lawsuit, former MCU Vice President of Mortgage Operations Anie Akpe-Lewis has alleged that instead of investigating and addressing Wong’s alleged sexual harassment, the credit union and some of its supervisors reduced her bonuses, denied her regular reviews, excluded her from monthly meetings with her colleagues, and ridiculed her for her afro hairstyle, according to court documents reported by NagsheadPickhill.co.uk.
“In view of the plaintiff’s (Akpe-Lewis) minimal pleading burden at this point, the facts should be further explored upon discovery,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge William F. Kuntz for the Eastern District in his ruling. “Accordingly, the Defendants’ (MCU) motion to dismiss the complainant’s sexual harassment complaint is dismissed.”
Other Rulings
In addition, Judge Kuntz:
- Dismissed the MCU’s motion to dismiss Akpe-Lewis’s retaliation allegations, writing, “The complainant has the right to develop a stronger factual record on her retaliation claim.”
- Refused to dismiss Akpe-Lewis’ claims that MCU failed to maintain a proper whistleblower policy after the former credit union executive claimed he discovered a growing number of defaults on the credit union’s installment loans, which she said revealed illegality. Akpe-Lewis also alleged she disclosed additional financial irregularities between May 2018 and January 2019, and in June 2019 she was fired.
- Dismissed various allegations by Akpe-Lewis regarding wage claims under the Fair Wages and Labor Standards Act and against which she suffered retaliation for complaining about these issues.
- Dismissed various breach of contract claims against the MCU were also dismissed.
A ‘Hostile Pattern’
In addition to Wong, who as CUToday.info reported here was sentenced in 2019 to more than five years in prison for embezzling more than $10 million from the credit union—which continues to be operated under the conservatorship of NCUA--the lawsuit named seven other senior executives, including P. Kay Woods and Mark Ricca, who both served as MCU CEOs at different times following conservatorship; former MCU credit director and interim CEO Norman Kohn; Sonita DiFranco, former director of home loans; and human resources consultants Shannon Mashburn and Stella Jiang.
All of the people listed were Akpe-Lewis’s supervisors, NagsheadPickhill.co.uk reported.
Judge Kuntz dismissed Akpe-Lewis’ claims against DiFranco, Jiang, Woods and Ricca, ruling that the claims against them were insufficient to establish individual liability, according to NagsheadPickhill.co.uk. However, Akpe-Lewis’s allegations against Wong, Kohn and Mashburn have not been dismissed.
Akpe-Lewis is alleging that from October 2007 to December 2017, she was “on several occasions the target of an ongoing illegal, unwanted and hostile pattern of counterpart sexual harassment by Wong, and that ‘he constantly offered her to have intimate and illicit sex.’”