Five felonies became one misdemeanor - but she'd already lost her job months earlier
A Navy Federal worker has sued the credit union, alleging it fired her over criminal charges while colleagues facing their own stayed on.
The complaint, filed October 26, 2026 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges the worker spent 11 years at Navy Federal Credit Union, including time as a Bankruptcy Specialist with access to sensitive financial information. During that tenure, according to the filing, she was nominated for Employee of the Month on multiple occasions and received what the complaint describes as a "WOW award."
Then came August 2024.
The complaint alleges that around that time, it became known the worker was under criminal investigation for transactions involving workers' compensation claims tied to a contracting company she had an interest in as what the filing calls a "side hustle." The alleged conduct, the filing states, "did not involve Navy Federal, its members, its accounts, or its resources."
What followed, according to the complaint, was full cooperation with an internal investigation. The worker alleges she agreed to participate the same day the assigned investigator contacted her on September 5, 2024, sat for an interview the next day, and submitted a written statement on October 7, 2024.
A follow-up interview was scheduled but had to be postponed due to a documented medical condition, the filing states. The worker alleges she provided a physician's note, offered alternative dates, and volunteered to do the interview by phone.
The investigator, according to the complaint, never rescheduled.
On December 6, 2024, the complaint alleges the investigator told the worker the investigation was closed.
For nearly six months after that, the worker's job carried on as normal - at least according to the filing. Her duties and access to sensitive financial information stayed the same, the complaint alleges, and she "never misused her position, improperly accessed member information, violated Defendant's policies, or otherwise demonstrated that she posed any risk."
On the criminal side, things moved slower. On May 7, 2025, the complaint states, three felony charges for Obtaining Money by False Pretenses and three felony charges for Forgery were filed. The worker alleges she continued in her role for almost another month after that.
Then, on June 4, 2025, Navy Federal terminated her.
The complaint alleges the credit union offered two reasons. First, that the worker would "jeopardize member accounts." The filing calls that "not credible" given she had stayed in her role for nine months after the criminal investigation became known to the employer. Second, that federal law required the termination. The complaint alleges it did not.
Here is where the case sharpens.
The charges eventually resolved on February 26, 2026, the complaint states. Five felony charges were dismissed outright. The remaining charge - Obtaining Money by False Pretenses - was reduced to a misdemeanor. No active jail time. No fine. Just court costs.
By that point, the worker had been out of a job for more than eight months.
The discrimination claim rests on how Navy Federal allegedly treated other employees facing criminal matters. The complaint identifies four colleagues - referred to by initials - who the filing says held similar roles of trust at the credit union.
One Bankruptcy Specialist was convicted of driving while intoxicated and received a thirty-day suspended sentence, according to the complaint. Navy Federal kept them on. Another Bankruptcy Specialist was charged with drunk in public - not terminated. A Loan Protection Program supervisor was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana - retained throughout the criminal process. A Bankruptcy Supervisor was charged with shoplifting - also retained.
The complaint alleges the worker is ethnically Hispanic and that non-Hispanic employees in comparable situations were treated differently.
The filing brings three claims: wrongful discharge in violation of public policy (citing Title VII and the Virginia Human Rights Act), a standalone Title VII discrimination claim, and a standalone Virginia Human Rights Act claim. The complaint also points to federal credit union regulations it says reflect a policy of keeping employees in their jobs until conviction rather than firing on charges alone.
The worker is seeking $56,966 in lost income, $350,000 in punitive damages, plus interest from June 5, 2025, and costs. A jury trial has been demanded.
One more detail worth noting: after the termination, the complaint states the worker filed for unemployment insurance with the Virginia Unemployment Commission. The claim was upheld and benefits were paid. According to the filing, Navy Federal "failed to prosecute any defense" against it by proving the worker had been terminated for cause.
For HR teams at financial institutions, the complaint puts consistency under the microscope - specifically, whether protocols around criminal charges are applied the same way across the workforce, and what the exposure looks like when an employer fires before conviction while the record suggests others in comparable roles rode out their own criminal processes.
The allegations in this complaint have not been tested, and no court has made any findings or rulings on the claims.
