SANTA FE, N.M. — A jury has ruled in favor of a widow here and ordered a credit union to pay more than a half-million in damages, even though the credit union said it was only acting in accordance with the law.
The plaintiff’s attorneys are now attempting to triple that amount.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Stella Vigil against Zia Credit Union. According to the Albuquerque Journal, Vigil went to the credit union in the winter of 2012 to withdraw from her life savings, left to her by her husband, to pay for propane to heat her double-wide mobile home.
But Vigial, who is now 65, left with no money after being told the account, which had had approximately $100,000 in it, had been frozen and that only about $25 remained.
The jury ruled in Vigil’s favor on all nine counts in the lawsuit, the Journal reported, including unjust enrichment, conversion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Unfair Practices Act.
At issue is the status of the account. Vigil’s account was a joint account that was held with her daughter, who was not only in debt to the credit union but who also worked at Zia. The daughter had a mortgage and several other loans with Zia before she was dismissed, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The publication reported that Zia had stated in a letter that it had “no option” other than to seize Vigil’s money to secure her daughter’s debts and “professed to recognize that the loss of her savings ‘is a difficult set of circumstances for Ms. Vigil’ …” and stated that it “‘regrets having to enforce the provisions of this agreement.’”
The plaintiff’s attorneys argued that the daughter never deposited or withdrew any funds in the joint account and that her name was on the account solely in case Vigil died, according to the Journal.
Zia Credit Union said in filing its response, “It was undisputed at trial that it is entirely normal for a mother and daughter to be in a joint account relationship” and “Zia was not taking some novel position on the law or a novel interpretation of its account agreements.”
In a brief statement, the Albuquerque Journal quoted Zia President and CEO David Woodruff as saying, “We were operating following the terms of our membership agreement and state law. We are looking out for our membership as a whole and individually.”
The jury awarded Vigil a judgment of $580,000 in punitive and compensatory damages. But because the jury found “a willful violation of the New Mexico Fair Practices Act,” said Allison, the judge will be asked to put aside the $150,000 punitive part of that award and triple the $430,000 compensatory amount, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The credit union told the Journal it has not yet decided whether it will appeal the ruling.