The Law Offices of Joseph M. Lovretovich File Case on Behalf of Bank Analyst Allegedly Terminated from Washington Mutual after Reporting Code of Conduct Violations

Business Wire, July 25, 2006

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- The Law Offices of Joseph M. Lovretovich recently filed a case in the Superior Court for the Orange District-Central Justice Center alleging that Washington Mutual Inc., one of the nation's leading consumer and small business banks, wrongfully terminated a staff internal analyst who reported internal Bank Code of Conduct violations to upper management. The case (#06CC06324) was filed by Joseph Lovretovich of Woodland Hills, Calif., attorney for the former employee. The Case Management Conference has been set for mid-November.

The analyst claims to have been directed not to downgrade a loan by a senior officer of Washington Mutual to enable the bank to continue doing business with a large mortgage client. The lawsuit alleges that, after the analyst refused to do so, another credit officer employed by the bank was told to misrepresent the loan value. Such manipulation by the bank employee prevented the $5 million commercial loan transaction's risk rating from being downgraded. The analyst had additionally concluded that the bank had carried a $6 million investment on its books that was actually worthless.

After the incident, the analyst reported the questionable activity to his direct supervisor, who took no action. The analyst then followed Bank Code of Conduct policies by reporting the violations to an outside contractor, as well as alerting bank senior management. Ultimately, the analyst was terminated.

"The case alleges that the bank's termination of the analyst was in retaliation for his reporting of Bank Code of Conduct violations," said attorney Joseph M. Lovretovich.

The Law Offices of Joseph M. Lovretovich represent clients in all California state and federal courts. Practice areas include employment law, severance agreements, insurance, personal injury, and malpractice.