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Guam judge directs UMDA, Saito to submit confidential settlement letter
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Posted on Apr 11 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
U.S. Magistrate Judge of the District of Guam Joaquin V. E. Manibusan Jr. has ordered United Micronesia Development Association Inc.’s former chief financial officer Hiroyuki Saito and UMDA to each submit a confidential settlement letter by April 18, 2012.
In an order issued Monday, Manibusan set the settlement conference for April 27, 2012.
Manibusan said the attorney leading the settlement conference must be the lead trial counsel.
“All parties or the party’s representative to the litigation must attend the settlement conference, and a representative with unrestricted settlement authority must appear on behalf of corporations and other business entities,” he said.
In cases involving insurance, the judge said, a representative with unrestricted settlement authority must appear on behalf of the insurance company.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona recently appointed Manibusan to serve as a settlement judge in Saito’s lawsuit against UMDA.
Manglona issued the order after Saito and UMDA, through their counsels, agreed to hold a conference to settle their dispute.
Saito and UMDA, through their respective counsels Mark A. Scoggins and Robert T. Torres, had also asked the court to appoint Manibusan to be the mediator.
Saito sued UMDA to compel the company to arbitrate their disputes. He alleged that UMDA terminated his employment without cause on Dec. 7, 2009. Saito claimed that UMDA’s total outstanding liability to him under the terms of his renewed contract is at least $975,000.
In February 2011, the federal court granted UMDA’s motion to dismiss Saito’s lawsuit. The court agreed with UMDA counsel Torres that Saito does not adequately allege a breach of contract because he did not adequately allege the existence of any contract to be breached.
Saito then filed an amended complaint.
