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High Court rules vs reinstating employee
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Posted on Apr 13 2005
The CNMI Supreme Court yesterday ruled against reinstatement of a former Department of Public Safety employee whom the department had earlier dismissed from service due to sexual harassment.
The High Court affirmed a ruling by Superior Court judge David Wiseman, who had earlier ruled against the legality of a Civil Service Commission decision allowing the reinstatement of Chong.
The DPS had appealed the commission’s ruling before the Superior Court, after the administrative body ordered it to reappoint Chong to a new position where he would not come into contact with any woman.
“It is clear from the facts that the commission exceeded its authority in ordering Chong’s reinstatement because it was not, in fact, a reinstatement, but a transfer to a newly minted position that, in turn, would require the displacement of other [DPS] employees,” the Supreme Court said.
The Supreme Court—through chief justice Miguel Demapan and associate justices John Manglona and Alexandro Castro—said the commission’s order to reappoint Chong interfered with the DPS’ duties regarding sexual harassment and discrimination.
“The [DPS] has a duty to maintain a workplace of ‘equal opportunity for all regardless of sex’ and to allow its employees to ‘hold their offices or positions free from discrimination,’” the court said in a media statement.
The DPS had dismissed Chong from service after the latter admitted to groping, leering and requesting sexual acts from his female co-workers, the court noted.
