Fresno jury awards $2.2 million in damages to former BofA employees

A Fresno County jury has awarded $2.2 million in damages to two former Bank of America employees who contended their boss defamed them when he fired them in November 2011.

After deliberating five hours, the Superior Court jury late Monday afternoon awarded Tricia Hennessey $1.3 million and Youa “Tracy” Her $904,000 in damages.

“Through the verdict, they have been vindicated,” said Fresno attorney Brian Whelan, who along with his attorney/father, Walt Whelan, represented Hennessey and Her.

Hennessey was assistant manager at the Bank of America branch at Shaw and Valentine avenues, making about $65,000 a year plus benefits. Her worked as a teller operations specialist, supervising other tellers and making about $35,000 a year plus benefits.

After they were fired, they sued Bank of America in September 2012.

Bill Halldin, a Bank of America spokesman in Northern California, said: “We strongly disagree with this decision. We intend to ask the court to set aside the verdict.”

The civil trial in Judge Mark Snauffer’s courtroom lasted two weeks.

Brian Whelan gave this account of the evidence:

In May 2011, Danny Villacis transferred to the Shaw and Valentine branch, was named manager and became the immediate supervisor of Hennessey and Her. But from the get-go, Villacis didn’t like Her, and he later disliked Hennessy when she tried to transfer to another bank.

For example, he moved Her’s work station so she would have to stand for long hours. In addition, Villacis put Her’s computer on a cabinet to make it difficult for the 4-foot, 1-inch tall woman to reach.

“It appeared that he was trying to get people to quit so he could hire people that he knew from his previous Bank of America job,” Whelan said.

Instead of quitting, Hennessey sought a transfer to the bank branch in Oakhurst, where she had purchased a home, Whelan said. Her remained at the Shaw and Valentine branch because she was sole “breadwinner” for her two children, the attorney said.

Before Hennessey’s transfer was finalized, she and Her received termination notices in November 2011 from Villacis, who had the approval of his superiors, Whelan said.

In rendering the verdict, the jury determined the termination notices were nearly identical and statements in the notices about Hennessey and Her were defamatory, he said.

“The statements were made behind their backs and outside of their presence,” Whelan said. “This caused both Hennessey and Her to suffer harm to their reputations and occupation.

“In addition, other defamatory statements made behind their backs and outside of their presences led to the destruction of their careers and false statements in their termination notices.”

Whelan said the jury also determined that Villacis acted with “hatred or ill will toward” Hennessey and Her “showing his willingness to vex, annoy, or injure” both of them.

Because of the defamatory statements, Hennessey and Her no longer could find jobs in the banking or financial services industries, he said.

Her, who worked at the bank for about five years, ended up finding a part-time job in a shoe store. Hennessey, who had been in the banking business for 15 years, had to retrain herself in another field. She now works as a patient intake clerk at a local hospital.

Villacis no longer works for Bank of America but still works in a bank, Whelan said.

“After years of litigation, it is very gratifying that the jury has helped to restore the good names of Ms. Her and Ms. Hennessey and compensated them for the harm suffered (from) the outrageous conduct of Bank of America,” he said.

This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Fresno jury awards $2.2 million in damages to former BofA employees."