VEGAS INC Coverage
A former Bank of Las Vegas president has sued the bank’s parent company, contending the financial institution wrongly refused to pay him severance due under his employment contract.
Attorneys for Vincent Ciminise filed suit last week in Clark County District Court against Capitol Bancorp Ltd., based in Lansing, Mich., and Phoenix.
The attorneys claimed that under Ciminise’s contract, which dates to 2001, he was entitled to receive six months’ compensation when he was terminated in November 2010.
Ciminise had been president and CEO of Bank of Las Vegas through September 2009, when Capitol Bancorp announced plans to merge Bank of Las Vegas with three other local banks it controlled: Black Mountain Community Bank, Desert Community Bank and Red Rock Community Bank.
The first CEO of the combined bank, which was given the Bank of Las Vegas name, was Capitol’s Nevada Regional President Thomas Mangione. Ciminise at the time was named president of the combined bank’s South Las Vegas operations.
One of Ciminise’s attorneys, Michael Cristalli, said in an interview Monday that Ciminise was let go several months after the consolidation because the bank determined it didn’t need multiple presidents.
“The hierarchy decided to let him go just because of the consolidation,” Cristalli said.
Ciminise continues to work in the banking industry, but Cristalli declined to say where he’s working.
The attorney said that in declining to pay Ciminise his six months’ severance, Capitol Bancorp said it was unable to do so because of a consent decree with bank regulators requiring Bank of Las Vegas to improve its financial condition and not pay “golden parachutes” to departing executives.
But Ciminise was owed less than $100,000, Cristalli said. He declined to say exactly how much money Ciminise claimed to be owed.
“In reality, it is not a golden parachute situation,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Capitol Bancorp said Monday that the company does not comment on pending litigation.
The suit alleges breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Ciminise seeks a judicial determination of the parties’ rights and obligations under the employment contract.