“The documents you have requested, which include employment records, would also be exempt from public disclosure under the law,” NMC President Carmen Fernandez said in her letter to Torres, R-Saipan.
She said such documents involve “personal information in files maintained for employees….”
She noted that under the Open Government Act, public agencies are required to make public records available for inspection, “but it does not require agencies to create such documents.”
She added, “I apologize but the document you are requesting are clearly protected under the law, and NMC declines to release any such documents and to violate the confidentiality of any agreements.”
Torres wants to find out whether NMC paid out or made arrangements to pay an aggrieved party in a settlement of claims made against the college.
“If the college is paying settlement money to people who threatened to sue the college because the college is in violation of laws and policies, or because they are being treated poorly, we have a right to know,” he said in his letter early this month to Fernandez.
He threatened litigation if NMC will not comply with his request.
But Fernandez said any such litigation would be unwarranted, “and we ask that you reconsider” it.
“With this response, NMC is in full compliance with the Open Government Act,” she added.
