A FEDERAL court jury has awarded $163,650 in damages to a woman who sued the CNMI government after she was wrongfully terminated from her job at the Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council in 1998.
The jury reached a verdict on Friday finding the Council’s Executive Director Thomas J. Camacho deprived Emerenciana Peter-Palican of her rights to due process and equal protection of the laws pursuant to the 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S Constitution.
Camacho will have to pay Peter-Palican $63,500 in actual damages and $20,000 in exemplary damages.
The jury also found the government, Camacho, and the Council liable for breach of good faith and fair dealing in the plaintiff’s employment.
Peter-Palican was awarded $55,150 in actual damages and $25,000 in exemplary damages.
But the jury did not award any amount with respect to the plaintiff’s claim for lost wages from Oct. 2000 to April 2002.
U.S. District Court Judge Alex R. Munson said Peter-Palican will have until June 21, 2002 to submit her claimed attorney’s fees and costs in filing the lawsuit.
Munson said the defendants have until June 28 to submit their opposition to the amounts claimed.
The jury trial began last Monday. The six jurors came up with a verdict late Friday afternoon after deliberating for one day.
Douglas Cushnie served as counsel for Peter-Palican while Assistant Attorney General Allan Dollison represented the defendants.
In 2000, Peter-Palican sued the government for her termination in Jan. 1998.
In 1999, the Civil Service Commission said Camacho had no authority to fire Peter-Palican.
Prior to her client’s termination, Cushnie said Camacho prepared ratings to determine that her performance was unsatisfactory.
But Camacho was informed by the director of personnel that the unsatisfactory ratings could not be justified and must be corrected.
Cushnie alleged that Camacho deliberately failed and refused to make such corrections and used the ratings as a basis for adverse action against Peter-Palican, resulting in her termination from employment.
