The manager of a local credit union is suing an organization that used an unauthorized photograph of her Lexus to make a point against her industry.
Cydnee Fullmer, manager of the Sandy branch of Mountain America Credit Union, filed the lawsuit in 3rd District Court Friday against Utahns For Fair Taxation.According to the lawsuit, the October issue of the Utahns For Fair Taxation newsletter contained several articles alleging that credit unions were using their profits to illegally and unfairly expand their businesses and that they were not paying their fair share of taxes.
The newsletter also contained a photograph of Fullmer's 1991 Lexus LS400 parked in front of her Sandy office, with the license plate number clearly visible.
A caption accompanying the photograph said, "We stand corrected. Not all big credit unions' profits go to expanding their businesses . . . Some credit union managers seem to do as well as their wealthy customers, as seen by this photo of this branch manager's Lexus outside one of Utah's largest credit unions."
The lawsuit contends the newsletter was libelous per se and portrayed Fullmer in a "false light which would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.' Also, it said the newsletter constituted a "profound breach of security, professional ethics and simple common sense."
Fullmer "felt extremely violated and has been placed in serious danger of falling prey to someone accepting as true the information contained" in the newsletter, the lawsuit added.
Alleging that the newsletter damaged her reputation and caused her humiliation, Fullmer is seeking special, general and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
The telephone number listed in the newsletter for Utahns For Fair Taxation was no longer in service Friday, and officials of the organization could not be located for comment.