First Bancshares, Inc. Announces Results of Litigation
January 27 2011 - 5:27PM
Business Wire
First Bancshares, Inc. (“Company”) (NASDAQ - FstBksh: FBSI), the
holding company for First Home Savings Bank (“Bank”), announced
that on January 21, 2011 a jury verdict was entered against the
Company and the Bank in the Circuit Court of Ozark County,
Missouri, following a jury trial in a claim made by a former
employee of the Bank relating to her termination from the Bank in
2007. The former employee claimed that the Bank wrongfully
terminated her as a result of her reporting to superiors and Board
members what she believed to be illegal activities of two former
presidents of the Bank. This alleged cause of action in Missouri is
commonly known as a whistleblower lawsuit. Protection for
whistleblowers has been carved out as a protected class of
employees who, as with certain other classes, such as gender, age,
and race for example, cannot be terminated as a result of reporting
alleged illegal activities. The jury verdict was against the Bank
for $182,000 in compensatory damages (lost wages) and for punitive
damages in the amount of $235,000. The Bank believes that the
verdict relating to the alleged reporting by the former employee of
illegal activities is contrary to the facts and the law and the
Bank intends to file post-trial motions including a motion for a
new trial and other relief.
First Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for First Home
Savings Bank, a FDIC-insured savings bank chartered by the State of
Missouri that conducts business from its home office in Mountain
Grove, Missouri, and ten full service offices in Marshfield, Ava,
Gainesville, Sparta, Springfield, Theodosia, Crane, Galena, Kissee
Mills and Rockaway Beach, Missouri.
The Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, First Home
Savings Bank and SCMG, Inc. may from time to time make written or
oral “forward-looking statements,” including statements contained
in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in its
reports to stockholders, and in other communications by the
Company, which are made in good faith by the Company pursuant to
the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements include statements with respect
to the Company’s beliefs, expectations, estimates and intentions
that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and are
subject to change based on various factors, some of which are
beyond the Company’s control. Such statements address the following
subjects: future operating results; customer growth and retention;
loan and other product demand; earnings growth and expectations;
new products and services; credit quality and adequacy of reserves;
results of examinations by our bank regulators, our compliance with
the Orders to Cease and Desist, technology, and our employees. The
following factors, among others, could cause the Company’s
financial performance to differ materially from the expectations,
estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking
statements: the strength of the United States economy in general
and the strength of the local economies in which the Company
conducts operations; the effects of, and changes in, trade,
monetary, and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate
policies of the Federal Reserve Board; inflation, interest rate,
market, and monetary fluctuations; the timely development and
acceptance of new products and services of the Company and the
perceived overall value of these products and services by users;
the impact of changes in financial services’ laws and regulations;
technological changes; acquisitions; changes in consumer spending
and savings habits, the results of litigation; and the success of
the Company at managing and collecting assets of borrowers in
default and managing the risks of the foregoing.
The foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Additional
discussion of factors affecting the Company’s business and
prospects is contained in the Company’s periodic filings with the
SEC. The Company does not undertake, and expressly disclaims any
intent or obligation, to update any forward-looking statement,
whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or
on behalf of the Company.
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