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Alabama Telco Credit Union v. Milling
Citations: 594 So. 2d 134; 1991 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 589; 1991 WL 189471Docket: 2900242
Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama; September 27, 1991; Alabama; State Appellate Court
Keith Milling filed a lawsuit against Alabama Telco Credit Union (Telco) and Lawrence Williams, Administrator of the Alabama Credit Union Administration (ACUA), seeking compensation for his role as Vice-Chairman/Treasurer of Telco. The trial court awarded Milling $8,000 for services rendered from March 1988 to March 1989. Telco appealed, contesting the court's ruling on the legality of the payment. Milling, a board member since 1985, was elected treasurer in March 1988 while employed full-time at Bell-South. Telco's board delayed discussing his salary until after half of his term had passed. Due to increased oversight from ACUA, the board sought Williams's opinion on compensation. Williams referenced ACUA Policy No. 19, which generally prohibits compensation for directors but allows for exceptions for the treasurer regarding professional services, such as bookkeeping, if employed by the credit union. Despite this, Williams later denied approval for Milling's payment. The trial court's ore tenus proceeding led to a presumption of correctness in its ruling, which found that Milling did perform professional services that warranted payment, contrary to Telco's claims. The court highlighted Milling's responsibilities as custodian of Telco’s funds and trustee of pension and savings plans, noting he performed more services than any prior treasurer due to heightened oversight. The board's conditional vote to pay Milling and the lack of prior objections from Williams regarding similar payments to previous treasurers were also considered. Ultimately, the trial court's decision was upheld, affirming that Telco could legally compensate Milling for his services. The appellate court found no error in the trial court's findings, leading to the affirmation of the lower court's ruling.