A former social worker in the Child Protection Unit of the Division of Youth Service who sued her then-supervisor for alleged sexual harassment has been told to explain in court why her lawsuit should not be junked.<\/p>\n
The complainant failed to appear at a scheduled hearing in federal court last Tuesday, prompting U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona to direct the complainant to appear on Jan. 22 at 8:30am (Chamorro standard time) to explain why her lawsuit should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute.<\/p>\n
The complainant, who is reportedly currently in the U.S. mainland, was allowed to appear at the hearing via telephone.<\/p>\n
If she fails to appear again, her case will be dismissed, said Manglona.<\/p>\n
Last Nov. 15, the plaintiff appeared telephonically at a status conference. The court then ordered her to submit a report summarizing her efforts to hire an attorney. Another status conference was then set for last Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 8:30am.<\/p>\n
Manglona said the court never received a written report from the plaintiff and that almost a year has passed since she filed her complaint, and she has still not served the defendant with the complaint.<\/p>\n
Manglona said the plaintiff did not call in at Tuesday\u2019s status conference, despite efforts by court staff to remind her of it.<\/p>\n
The judge noted that this is the second time in this case that plaintiff has failed to appear for a status conference.<\/p>\n
The court issued the first show-cause order last July.<\/p>\n
The complainant was left with no counsel after her first lawyer, Joseph E. Horey, moved to withdraw as counsel last March. <\/p>\n
Horey then agreed with Manglona that the complaint was not served yet on defendant Julian R. Camacho and co-defendants.<\/p>\n
Aside from plaintiff\u2019s then-supervisor Camacho, the complainant named as co-defendants the CNMI government, and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs DYS. <\/p>\n
The plaintiff is suing Camacho for violation of her civil rights, and the CNMI government and DCCA DYS for unlawful employment practices and violation of her civil rights.<\/p>\n
She is demanding damages, court costs, and attorney\u2019s fees in an unspecified amount.<\/p>\n
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was employed by the Commonwealth as a social worker in the Child Protection Unit of DYS from December 2012 to May 2014. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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