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SUIT SETTLED, PARTIES AGREE TO DROP CASE
CNMI govt and Fund agree to pay Taisague his retirement benefits
The CNMI government and the NMI Retirement Fund have agreed that retiree Jesus I. Taisague shall be paid all of the retirement benefits that he is entitled to under the Fund as part of their settlement deal.
According to the settlement agreement, Taisague would receive retirement benefits from the Fund in the amount of $2,286 monthly or $27,432 annually.
Taisague is a member of the Defined Benefit Plan of the NMI Retirement Fund. He retired from the CNMI government on Dec. 6, 1998.
Taisague is presently receiving all of his retirement benefits from the Fund (including all bonuses).
In 2013, Taisague sued then- governor Eloy S. Inos, the CNMI government, Department of Finance, and the NMI Retirement Fund for entering into a settlement agreement with Betty Johnson’s class action that, according to him, was unconstitutional and illegal.
He asserted claims for breach of contract and other causes of action relating to the nonpayment of his full retirement benefits.
With the settlement, Taisague, through counsel Samuel I. Mok, and Deputy Attorney General Lillian A. Tenorio filed before the U.S. District Court for the NMI Tuesday their agreement to drop the case. Taisague can no longer re-file his lawsuit.
The signatories of the settlement deal are Taisague, Attorney General Edward Manibusan, and Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson.
The parties said this agreement is a compromise settlement of a disputed claim or claims. They said the agreement shall not be deemed or construed at any time to be an admission of liability by any party.
Under the agreement, in the event the defendants fail to pay Taisague’s retirement benefits, plaintiff shall be entitled to costs and attorney’s fees in the amount approved by the court.
The defendants shall pay Taisague costs taxed in the amount of $500. Each party shall be responsible for paying their own attorney fees.
In December 2013, the court denied Taisague’s motion to prevent Inos and the CNMI government from withholding or failing to pay 100 percent of his pension benefits.
Taisague was among the 16 who opted out of the Johnson settlement agreement.
