Fannie Mae wants to squash separate lawsuits from workers it fired last spring, who are accusing the government-sponsored enterprise of discrimination and defamation. 

The accusations stem from a mass termination in April, in which Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said over 100 employees were fired for fraud. Housing officials never elaborated on the incident, and 65 affected staff members sued Fannie Mae last July for discrimination.

The plaintiffs, who are all U.S. citizens of Indian origin, had participated in a Fannie Mae matching donation program, and their monetary contributions were approved, their attorney said. They claim at least 80 workers were called into a Microsoft Teams meeting last April and fired immediately, with no explanation. 

While 21 of the plaintiffs have since entered arbitration proceedings, the remaining 44 are disputing their employment agreements with the GSE. While plaintiffs said they received an email explaining the agreement, the sides now dispute whether they had agreed to the form. 

Plaintiffs are also asking a federal court to hold an evidentiary hearing, another request attorneys for Fannie Mae have contested. A Washington, D.C. federal judge has yet to rule on the latest motions filed last month. 

"We want to take it to trial," attorney Milt Johns of Executive Law Partners told National Mortgage News Friday.

One attorney representing Fannie Mae declined to comment, while another and a spokesperson for the company didn't respond to requests for comment. The case is one of three pending actions against the GSE over the April firing. 

Defamation suits against Fannie Mae pending

Most of the plaintiffs are also suing Fannie Mae and former CEO Priscilla Almodovar, in a Virginia federal court for defamation over their statements following the firing. 

In one of two cases filed by Johns, ex-workers point to Pulte's statement in a press release he also shared on X, in which he described terminated workers' conduct as "unethical" and "facilitating fraud." They also claimed the director also made a defamatory statement on television, stating in a Fox News interview that "they were making donations to the charity and then getting kickbacks — the internal company charity."

The second lawsuit names Almodovar as a defendant, for thanking Pulte for empowering Fannie Mae to root out unethical conduct. Attorneys for the former CEO argued last month that her thanks was a statement of opinion, not fact, and that the fired workers have yet to prove the statement was false. 

Counsel for Fannie Mae in the first case have also noted how Pulte did not refer to specific individuals. The director was once named as a defendant in that specific case but has since been dismissed, as plaintiffs continue their defamation claims against the GSE. 

The 41 plaintiffs in both defamation cases are seeking damages of at least $1 million per plaintiff, and an additional $350,000 in punitive damages for allegedly acting with malice. 

A hearing in both defamation suits against Fannie Mae and Almodovar is scheduled for January 23. 

Fannie Mae is also facing a separate discrimination lawsuit from a former data scientist manager, who accused the GSE last month of violating the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Pulte, chairman of both Fannie Mae and competitor Freddie Mac, has worked swiftly to reshape the GSEs, including axing board members and employees related to diversity, equity and inclusion roles. The FHFA's inspector general was also reportedly ousted late last year.