Heinz’s cousin sues NMC, top officials

A cousin of House Rep. Heinz Hofschneider has filed a lawsuit against the Northern Marianas College and top incumbent and former officials of the college for allegedly setting up a fraudulent scheme inducing him to resign from the college in retaliation for the oversight hearing on NMC’s affairs that was conducted by the congressman.

In a civil action filed with the Superior Court, Richard U. Hofschneider, a former assistant to the college’s legal counsel, said that former NMC president Agnes McPhetres misrepresented to him that the Board of Regents decided to eliminate his position when he met with the president sometime in June 1998 to discuss about his intention to resign to avail of retirement benefits and be reinstated two weeks hence.

McPhetres also allegedly misrepresented that the board decided to freeze the hiring of prospective employees at the college, a matter that was subsequently denied by former board chair Manuel A. Sablan in an oversight hearing of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Education chaired by Rep. Hofschneider.

Hofschneider, who then returned to work for the NMC after completing his sabbatical leave to complete a law degree in the U.S., asked the court to reinstate him to his former position and to award him damages of at least $380,000.

Hofschneider also named the following incumbent and former NMC officials as defendants in the lawsuit: acting president Antonio DeLeon Guerrero, board chair Kimberly King-Hinds, former president Joaquin Sablan, former president McPhetres, former board chair Fermin Atalig, former vice president for administration Felicitas Abraham, and former Human Resources director Kohne Ramon.

He sued the individual defendants in their official and personal capacities for their alleged participation in blocking his reemployment with the college.

Hofshneider began work at the NMC in 1989 as liaison officer for the NMC’s Tinian satellite campus. The board approved his sabbatical leave for three school years beginning 1993.

Pursuant to an agreement on his sabbatical leave, the NMC obligated Hofschneider to return to full-time employment with the college upon completion of his studies. The agreement obligated Hofschneider to pay the NMC some $108,365.44 representing salary and fringe benefits during his sabbatical leave if he breaches the agreement.

Hofschneider returned to full-time employment as instructor and affirmative action officer in July 1996 after completing law studies. On September that year, the board promoted him to the position of assistant to the legal counsel.

In 1998, the congressman’s committee held an oversight hearing on the NMC’s management and operations. McPhetres allegedly sought Hofschneider’s help to arrange a meeting with the congressman, and later, to help her resolve the lawmaker’s concerns about the college.

“Inspite of Hofschneider’s support and advice, McPhetres continued to pressure [him] to inquire as to why [the congressman] was adamant and relentlessly continued to accuse [her of] mismanagement,” the complaint stated.

Sometime in April 1998, McPhetres called Hofschneider for a meeting, where she became suspicious as to how the congressman obtained certain information about the NMC. Hofschneider denied having any knowledge about the leak of information.

In June that year, Hofschneider met with McPhetres to discuss his intention to resign for retirement purposes, but with the desire to be reinstated to his position after two weeks. McPhetres allegedly told him that he could not resign because the board had frozen new hiring.

When Hofschneider pressed that he would simply be a returning employee—not a new one—McPhetres allegedly told him that the board had decided to eliminate his position. Amid these alleged representations, Hofschneider resigned from the NMC.

“In making these false representations, NMC and McPhetres knew that it had no intention of rehiring Hofschneider back to his current position because [he] is the first cousin of Rep. Heinz Hofschneider who continued to question [her] management and operation of NMC in the media and during the course of the legislative oversight hearing of NMC,” according to the complaint.

Hofschneider said he suffered from the pressure of securing a new job, loss of income, and inability to religiously pay his student and personal loans, among others. He said he lost a promising career at the NMC, where his reputation also suffered.