Saipan Tribune

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Thursday, September 06, 2012

OAG ordered to submit Fund board's appointment history

The U.S. District Court for the NMI has ordered the Office of the Attorney General to submit to the court the history of the NMI Retirement Fund board of trustees' appointments from January 2006 to the present.

In an order issued Tuesday, district court designated judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood gave the OAG no later than noon yesterday to file the history of appointments.

The judge said the history shall include the name of the board appointees, dates of appointment, dates of confirmation, and dates of when the appointment terms expired or when the appointees resigned or were terminated.

The OAG had yet to submit the history of appointments when Saipan Tribune checked the court dockets yesterday shortly before noon.

Tydingco-Gatewood ordered last week the parties in the lawsuit filed by two unnamed retirees to present arguments whether the case can move forward, given that the Fund's board of trustees lacks a quorum.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the CNMI government are opposed to having the litigation of the lawsuit proceed, according to the OAG.

The federal court should not proceed because the Fund is adversely affected by the rulings, said assistant attorney general Reena J. Patel in Fitial and the CNMI government's response on Sunday to the court's request for additional briefing on the quorum issue.

If the court grants the two unnamed retirees' motion to lift stay, the current litigation would proceed and leave the Fund defenseless, Patel said.

The federal court has set a settlement discussion in the unnamed retirees' lawsuit for Sept. 10, 2012.

Patel said without a proper board, the Fund will be unable to contribute to any settlement negotiations.

The unnamed retirees are asking the court to grant their three emergency motions: motion to lift stay, motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, and motion for leave to file a second amended complaint.

According to Fund board counsel Braddock Huesman, for lack of quorum, the board cannot take a position on the two unnamed retirees' motions to prevent the enforcement of Fitial's executive order declaring a state of emergency for the financially troubled Fund.