Court awards $79.5 million judgment against Ameris Bank in whistleblower case

A federal court entered a $79,548,170.80 judgment against Ameris Bank (NYSE: ABCB) on July 27, 2026, in a whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination case brought by Patrick Byrne, founder of Balboa Capital, according to a press release from his legal counsel, Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered the final judgment following unanimous jury verdicts returned June 11 and 12, 2026, after a two-week trial. The jury found Ameris Bank liable on claims of wrongful termination in violation of public policy, whistleblower retaliation under California Labor Code section 1102.5, failure to pay wages due at termination, and breach of contract related to Balboa's Long-Term Cash Incentive Plan (LTIP).

The judgment comprises $16,641,557.80 in compensatory damages and statutory penalties, including approximately $9 million in unpaid LTIP wages and bonuses, and $62,906,613 in punitive damages. The jury found that Ameris acted "with malice, oppression, or fraud," the standard required under California law for punitive damages. The total excludes prejudgment interest, post-judgment interest, costs, and potential attorneys' fees.

Byrne founded Balboa Capital in 1988 and sold it to Ameris Bank in December 2021. He was terminated without cause in June 2024 after raising concerns about Ameris's calculation of LTIP performance targets for 2022 and 2023, which he alleged underpaid him and more than 140 other Balboa Division employees.

Ameris Bancorp, the bank's parent company, reported an $82.5 million pre-tax litigation accrual in its second-quarter 2026 earnings release filed July 23, which reduced reported earnings to $0.77 per diluted share, compared with $1.60 per share on an adjusted basis. The company stated it intends to appeal the judgment.

The court also entered judgment against Ameris for violating California's Unfair Competition Law. In a related action filed by the bank, the court dismissed or narrowed several counterclaims against Byrne, including trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract.

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