Fernandez, through her lawyer Brien Sers Nicholas, sued in their individual capacities NMC regents Janet Han King, Paz C. Younis, Andrew L. Orsini, and Frank Rabauliman, NMC, and 10 John Does in their individual capacities.
King chairs the NMC board while Younis is the vice chairwoman.
Fernandez sued King, Younis, Rabauliman and Orsini for violations of acting under the color of law and conspiracy.
NMC was sued for wrongful termination and breach of contract.
Charges of defamation and conspiracy to defame were also filed by Fernandez against King, Younis, Rabauliman and Orsini.
Fernandez wants a jury trial.
The former Guam senator is asking for actual, general, special, and compensatory, damages, jointly and severally, and attorney’s fees against the defendants in an amount to be proven at trial.
Fernandez is also asking for punitive damages and costs.
NMC yesterday said it takes any lawsuit filed against the college every seriously.
“We have not seen the lawsuit yet so we will not be able to provide comments at this time,” according to a statement from the office of the NMC interim president.
Education instructor Barbara “Bobbie” K. Merfalen was the acting interim president as Lorraine Cabrera was on an official business trip abroad.
NMC said it will “respond appropriately once we have more information” about the lawsuit.
Termination clause
For an $80,000 annual salary, Fernandez was hired by NMC as its president for a term of four years that started on May 7, 2009 and was supposed to end on May 6, 2013.
The employment contract allowed for “termination of cause” based on malfeasance in office, for persistent neglect of, or failure to discharge duties, or for offenses involving moral turpitude, Sers Nicholas said.
On Dec. 30, 2009, King was elected as the NMC board’s new chairwoman.
Fernandez was suspended by the board on Jan. 12, 2010, but was not given an opportunity to be heard or defend herself against her being suspended, according to her complaint.
On Jan. 29, 2010, Fernandez learned that her suspension “had to do with her decision to change certain students’ grades and also her decision not to renew an employment contract for a certain employee,” Sers Nicholas said.
The publicized investigation of Fernandez conducted by the Attorney General’s Office was “not only intended to put Fernandez in a bad light by suggesting to the general public that [she] committed a crime while president of…NMC, it was also done in the furtherance of having [her] employment…terminated,” Sers Nicholas said.
On March 25, 2010, Fernandez received a letter from King asking the then-NMC president to answer certain allegations of “wrongdoing” during a hearing scheduled for April 5.
On April 12, the complaint stated, the rescheduled hearing pushed through, and a decision was eventually made to terminate Fernandez’s employment with NMC.
Fernandez received a notice of termination on April 19, 2010.
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