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| Why Members Sue Credit Unions & Win! | ||
A recent seminar identified the most common lawsuits against credit unions. For those of you who are interested in viewing the detailed powerpoint presentation (which is heavy on case law for those who find that sort of thing interesting), please let me know.  Without further delay, I present to you the Top 5 types of successful lawsuits against credit unions: 1. Wrongful Reposession 2. Conversion of Property 3. Regulation Z/Truth in Lending Violations 4. Defective Loan Documents 5. Wrongful Discharge This is a simplified list, so please contact me for more detailed information via my email (nholt@azcreditunions.org) or a comment on this website. |
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| Protecting your employees from Sexual Harrasment | ||
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In 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals signaled that an employer may be held liable for harassing conduct by NON-EMPLOYEES. (Freitag v. Ayers) All of us are aware of an employer's duties to protect their employees from harassing conduct at the hands of fellow employees. However, this Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case (which the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to review) extends this duty. As the state of Arizona is covered by the Ninth Circuit, credit unions in Arizona need to be aware of this case. Imagine a scenario where a credit union member repeatedly makes sexually suggestive remarks to a teller. Ignoring this conduct could violate the teller's rights and subject you to a Title VII sexual harassment case. What can employers do? You should handle sexual harassment at the hands of nonemployees the same way you would handle harassment at the hands of employees: Take prompt, corrective action to address the issue. Don't ignore the conduct. Take reasonable steps to protect the employee! |
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| EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Caregivers in the Workplace | ||
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new Enforcement Guidance on unlawful "disparate" treatmetn of those with caregiver/parental responsibilites. Unlawful treatment can occur when a worker with caregiving responsibilities is discriminated against based upon sex, race, or a disability. To illustrate its point, the EEOC gave several examples of circumstances in which discrimination may violate federal law: 1. Treating male caregivers more favorably than female caregivers 2. Reducing or reassigning a female based upon an assumption that as a new mother, she will want to work less 3. Making assumptions about the abilities of pregnant workers 4. Denying leave to male employees to care for an infant 5. Creating a hostile work environment on the basis of a person's status as a new mother, pregnant person, etc. If you are interested in reading all of the examples, please visit the EEOC's website! |
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| Top 10 Compliance Challenges Faced by Credit Unions... | ||
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In its latest annual report, CUNA has identified the following areas as the top compliance issues faced by credit unions in 2006: 1. Bank Secrecy Act (which comes as a shock to all of you, right?) 2. Authentication/Security of home banking sites 3. Disaster Recovery 4. Lending & Overdraft protection programs 5. Share Insurance Changes 6. Managing overall regulatory compliance |
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| CUNA holds "Pressing CU Compliance Issues" audio conference | ||
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On May 18, 2007, CUNA held an audio conference to address upcoming important compliance issues. Issues discussed included the new NCUA official share insurance sign, Bank Secrecy Act compliance, Truth-in-Lending, Regulation E compliance errors, HUD's new counseling notice, and several proposed rules and regulations. Below, I have attached the link to the audio conference. http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/archive/list.php?date=051707#31373 |
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| FinCEN delays implementation of new SAR forms | ||
| In April of this year, FinCEN announced that the new Suspicious Activity Report Forms (scheduled to become effective in June) will not take effect as planned. FinCEN will announce new compliance dates at some undetermined date in the future. I will post the new dates once they are released. | ||
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