Explosive Tamara Richards suit against Loandepot dismissed

A California jury sided with Loandepot regarding remaining claims in litigation filed against it by Tamara "Tammy"  Richards, its former chief operating officer.

In explosive litigation filed in 2021, Richards accused the mortgage lender and two of its executives — founder Anthony Hsieh and general counsel Peter Macdonald — of gender discrimination and wrongful termination after she refused to participate in an alleged scheme to loosen underwriting standards.

Since the lawsuit was filed in the California Superior Court for Orange County, parts of the litigation have been dismissed, including the two named defendants. Richards' allegations of improper loan origination practices, whistleblower claims, and wrongful termination were also recently thrown out.

The remaining claims involved gender discrimination and constructive discharge. On Feb.7 the jury sided unanimously with Loandepot, finding the lender not guilty.

"We are pleased with the jury's unanimous decision, which has vindicated our position on this case from the beginning," the company's CEO Frank Martell said in a statement. "We take great pride in our commitment to fostering a professional workplace where we respect our colleagues and customers in the communities where we live and work."

"We remain focused on the important work of Project North Star, which lays the foundation for a very positive trajectory in 2025 and beyond," he added.

Richards did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The former Loandepot executive does have the right to appeal the verdict if she so chooses.

Richards joined the Irvine, California-based shop in February 2018, and sued the shop three years later alleging the company had a "frat house" environment that encouraged mistreatment of women in the workplace.

Her suit also accused Hsieh of initiating a wide-scale fraud-for-profit scheme, in which the former CEO urged the production team to close loans without proper documentation.

Following her reporting this to Jeff Walsh, the senior executive vice president, Richards claimed she was retaliated against. She was removed as COO and instead offered a non-C-suite position, her litigation claimed.

On March 30, 2021, Richards resigned, citing a "constructive termination" as a result of the company's retaliation against her.

The mortgage lender countersued in 2023 claiming its former COO stole confidential information in November 2020, right before she departed and filed a complaint against the mortgage lender for questionable practices.

According to Loandepot's suit, over 8,000 files of customer data were taken by Tammy Richards by way of a "secret video recording application on her personal cell phone."

As of Feb. 10, that litigation is still pending.