Wiseman dismisses Seman, Wright from Angello’s suit

The Superior Court has dismissed former Northern Marianas College’s Board of Regents chair Vincent J. Seman and former NMC president Kenneth E. Wright from a lawsuit filed by terminated NMC employee Jack Angello.

Associate Judge David A. Wiseman ruled that elimination of Seman and Wright from the caption of the case “will have negligible dispositive impact, as any disposition from this case will be directed toward the agency rather than its employees or officials.”

Wiseman, however, denied the motion to dismiss with regard to the NMC Employee Appeals Committee.

The judge said the Appeals Committee qualifies as an agency and Angello could have named either the committee or NMC as respondent.

Angello was an NMC employee until Sept. 24, 2002, when he was notified of his immediate termination.

He appealed his termination to the NMC Employment Appeals Committee. The Committee upheld NMC’s decision to fire him.

Angello then appealed the Committee’s decision to the Civil Service Commission, arguing that NMC’s decision to fire him without cause violated the provisions of the Personnel Service System Rules and Regulations.

NMC responded by filing a motion with the CSC to dismiss Angello’s appeal because CSC had no jurisdiction over NMC’s employment decisions.

The CSC, however, denied NMC’s motion to dismiss, nothing “there is no provision in the law which exempts the employees of the NMC from the civil service system.”

In 2003, NMC appealed the CSC’s denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction to the Superior Court.

In response, CSC filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming NMC lacked standing to appeal the CSC’s decision.

Lizama granted the CSC’s motion. NMC, through counsel Jesus C. Borja, appealed to the High Court.

The CNMI Supreme Court ruled that NMC was entitled to initiate judicial review of the CSC’s decision to retain Angello. In reversing the Superior Court’s order, the justices said the statute does not preclude NMC from seeking judicial review.

The respondents, through counsel Matthew Smith, filed a motion to dismiss. They moved to dismiss respondents Seman, Wright, and the NMC’s Employee Appeals Committee.

They also moved Angello’s claims under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and his claims under the CNMI Post-Secondary Education Act, and miscellaneous claims.

Wiseman said because the NMC Employee Appeals Committee exercised its authority to uphold Angello’s termination from employment by NMC, its actions are subject to review as an extension of NMC.

Here, Wiseman said, the Appeals Committee exists within NMC.

Therefore the Appeals Committee qualifies as an agency and petitioner could have named either the Appeals Committee or NMC as respondent, he said.

Wiseman said Angello’s claim for relief under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution meets the minimum criteria to avoid dismissal.

“Respondents additionally attack petitioner’s reference to the 14th Amendments of the Constitution in his pleadings by citing to authority which dismissed a direct cause of action under the 14th Amendment, for monetary damages, because the 14th Amendment can only be enforced by civil action if authorized under a separate statute,” he said.

Although respondents’ citation is correct, it is inapplicable here because Angello is not attempting to sustain a direct claim for monetary damages, Wiseman pointed out.

Angello was simply fired without cause, not as a result of the president taking action to disestablish petitioner’s department, he said.