A thrift depositor who sued on his own rather than participate in a class action that resulted in a settlement with the state has received a full judgment from the court.
"We just wanted to get our money back," said Doug White, an attorney who sued the state on behalf of his wife, Carolyn, and their children. "We won a 100 percent judgment. So I believe we're better off than had we joined in the class-action suit."The Whites lost $43,217 they had in Charter Thrift & Loan in Bountiful, one of five thrifts closed by state officials as insolvent in July 1986.
Second District Judge Douglas Cornaby this week granted the Whites' motion for summary judgment, awarding them the full amount they claimed they lost.
The 15,000 depositors in the class-action suit agreed to settle with the state last year for about 90 percent of the amount they lost in the thrifts.
"We were the only ones who decided to sue on our own," he said. "And I believe we made the right decision."
White alleged fraud on the part of the state in his suit, claiming state officials had declared the parent company of Charter Thrift and Loan insolvent on July 1, 1986, and had taken control of the thrift.
His wife deposited the money after that date and nobody told her the deposit was in jeopardy, White said.
That fact, he said, gave him legitimate grounds to allege fraud.