Becky Judy and Todd Judy
CHARLESTON – Another lawsuit has been filed related to three car dealerships formerly known as Todd Judy Ford, this time by Judy’s wife.
Pyle
Rebekah Judy originally filed her complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Transportation Network V, Capital City Auto Auction Inc., Joe R. Pyle, Charlotte Pyle and Kolten Saunders. But the defendants had it removed to federal court July 28 by the defendants.
In her complaint, Becky Judy accuses the defendants of wrongful termination, defamation, sexual harassment and racketeering. She said the defendants “devised a criminal scheme in which they would fraudulently funnel wrecked vehicles through Transportation Network V, by passing them off as quality used cars.”
Last year, Todd Judy sued the Pyles and Saunders accusing them of fraud, unjust enrichment and defamation. That case was sent to arbitration after Kanawha Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers upheld an arbitration clause.
Rebekah Judy is Todd Judy’s wife. Todd Judy Ford once had three locations in the Kanawha Valley. Pyle, who lives in Pennsylvania, is known locally for his auction business. Both had been regular presences on television commercials for years. Pyle is the principal owner of several local car dealerships, including the ones that were known as Todd Judy Ford.
An attorney for the defendants in the cases calls both of them frivolous, saying the latest one “clearly brought because they are unhappy with the adverse ruling in the first lawsuit.”
“The allegations are nothing more than an attempt to disparage Mr. Pyle and distract from the fact that Todd Judy proved to be an incapable manager who eventually had to be fired,” attorney Isaac Forman told The West Virginia Record. “Mrs. Judy brought this new case only after receiving an adverse ruling in the case filed by her husband. Mrs. Judy was employed by a dealership that was managed, operated and partly owned by her husband, Todd Judy.
“It is beyond bizarre that she would claim damages and discrimination occurred while she was employed by a business that was operated and managed by her own husband.”
According to Becky Judy’s complaint, she was hired by Joe R. Pyle as the social media and marketing specialist for Todd Judy Ford. She was paid $32,000 per year. Soon, she says she had the top Facebook page for Ford dealerships in the country and was featured in Ford training about how to handle social media.
She also says she never received a raise even after she was recruited to install and manage social media pages for other Pyle-owned dealerships which also outperformed other industry pages. She claims she was among the lowest paid employees compared to men of similar position, who she says were given raises even though she outperformed them.
“Pyle hired 17-year-old boys and paid them higher salaries than plaintiff despite the fact that she had broken records with social media presence, and the boys had no experience,” the complaint states.
Becky Judy says Pyle insisted she work at Capital City Auto Auction “because she was an attractive woman.” She says that was outside of her work responsibilities and was not compensated for her work there.
She says Pyle “started to show an inappropriate interest in her that increased the tension in the business relationship between the Judys and the Pyles.” She also says Pyle regularly made misogynistic comments about women, including calling some “dumb” and “worthless.” She says Saunders also made misogynistic remarks about a female Ford executive.
“Pyle surrounded himself with an inner circle of men and pushed out female opinions or contributions,” the complaint states. “His inner circle, who acted on his authority, similarly disrespected women in authority positions. …
“Pyle, along with his entourage of young men, facilitated a culture of misogyny where they demeaned the accomplishments of successful women they employed or interacted with and often made jokes about.”
Still, Becky Judy says she continued to work there because she wanted to learn more about the automobile business.
She says she worked with Grant Campbell, who was named Used Car Director by Pyle to manage inventory.
“In reality, Mr. Campbell was instructed to place subpar cars at the dealership unbeknownst to anyone outside of the defendants Pyle and Mr. Campbell,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff was only allowed to represent cars when being sold and was boxed out of any other opportunities at the auction. Grant, knowing that he was engaged as Joe’s seller of title-washed cars, kept plaintiff at arm’s length and would not let her see what he was doing.
“After some of the cars Mr. Campbell was purchasing at the automobile auction were discovered to have been wrecked vehicles with hidden titles and history reports, Mr. Campbell was moved to a different position within defendants’ organization where he was still able to perform the same scheme for the defendants Pyle.”
Becky Judy says she quickly realized Pyle had the “impressionable young men” do his bidding and that she was not regarded as an equal “despite the fact that her family was led to believe that they were to take over the dealership.”
She says she also was harassed and intimidated by Pyle’s “projects,” who were young men hired by him without any prior automobile sales experience. She says they constantly tried to intimidate her into doing what they wanted, which “was primarily to purchase substandard vehicles at defendant Pyle’s automobile auction.”
Becky Judy also says she complained about the harassment to her husband, but it was known that employees who complained about Pyle’s “projects” would face retaliation from Pyle himself.
She also says the young men who reported to Pyle began to intimidate her to seel vehicles for profit to be shifted from the dealerships her family drew income from to the auction instead.
“The young men would surround her and pressure her to make decisions about the vehicles that only benefitted the other Pyle organizations,” the complaint states.
She also says Pyle “always physically touched her when he was near her.”
“Plaintiff asserts that she was uncomfortable with the way and the amount of times that defendant Pyle touched her,” the complaint states. “Not wanting to be associated with any negative rumors or bad dealings that could negatively reflect on her or her family, plaintiff withdrew from auction duties and refused to participate in any further sales of vehicles, further escalating the tension between the Pyles and Judys.”
Becky Judy says she and her husband became increasingly concerned about the number of consumer complaints regarding used cars being purchased at the dealerships. That’s when the couple and two other workers began to investigate the source of the defective cars.
When the four “began pulling car faxes and other vehicle histories to determine how wrecked cars were ending up on the dealership’s lot,” the complaint says they determined “defendants were involved in a consumer scam that involved moving wrecked vehicles through various Pyle-owned organizations and onto defendant Transportation Network V’s (Toddy Judy Ford) dealership lot.”
Becky Judy says she was fired June 14, 2024. She says she was fired in retaliation for uncovering the alleged scam and souring the business relationship between Pyle and her husband as well as for refusing to tolerate Pyle’s sexist behavior.
She says she never was provided a W-2 form for 2024 and was not allowed to empty personal belongings from her desk. She says her entire office was cleaned out in the middle of a work day in front of employees to create the impression she had committed an illegal act.
She also says the defendants have spread false rumors and statements about her engaging in illegal and disreputable conduct, and she says these false statements have damaged her reputation in the community and the car industry.
Becky Judy seeks compensatory damages, special damages, general damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
She is being represented by Joshua R. Martin of The Martin Law Firm in Nitro. The defendants are being represented by Isaac R. Forman, Kayla S. Reynolds and Casey E. Waldeck of Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie in Charleston. The case has been assigned U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:25-cv-00467
