DISCRIMINATION SUIT Gov’t told to pay damages to ex-OPA legal counsel

No government employee can be terminated for political or religious reasons.

This was the message sent by the six-man jury before the Superior Court when it ruled Friday that the CNMI government has illegally terminated the contract of Robert Bisom, former legal counsel of the Office of the Public Auditor.

As a result of its wrongful termination of Mr. Bisom’s contract, the jury said the CNMI government must pay Mr. Bisom damages amounting to $110,300.

At the same time, former Public Auditor Robert D. Bradshaw was directed to pay a total of $89,000 compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages.

Mr. Bisom, who was then residing in Kyoto, Japan was hired by the CNMI government as OPA legal counsel in April 1993. At that time, the Public Auditor was Scott Kheng Shang Tan. Seven months later, Mr. Tan’s term of office expired.

Former Gov. Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero then appointed Robert D. Bradshaw as temporary public auditor. On Dec. 28, 1993 Mr. Bradshaw informed Mr. Bisom that his services will no longer be needed effective Jan. 4, 1994.

In his complaint, Mr. Bisom claimed that his employment was terminated due to the perception that his political position was aligned with the previous public auditor and he was hostile to the previous administration. Claiming discrimination, he said his termination was also based on his being a Jew.

Mr. Bisom alleged that the decision to remove him from his job was made because he questioned the legal authority of Mr. Bradshaw who was appointed temporary public auditor and raised questions on the legality and propriety of the “single audit” being done as desired by the outgoing administration, which he said was politically motivated.

In December 1995, Mr. Bradshaw made life difficult for Mr. Bisom such as he confiscated the keys to his office and the key to the government car assigned to him, ordered not to make or receive telephone calls without the consent of the public auditor, transferred his office to a work station in a hallway common area, filing a formal complaint with the CNMI Bar Association charging him with ethics violation without legal or factual foundation for such charges, retracting previous permission to leave Saipan to go to Guam for medical purposes.

The termination of his employment contract was a violation of the CNMI Constitution since the government failed to give him proper notice and an opportunity to be heard to contest the decision, according to Mr. Bisom.

When the term of then Gov. Guerrero expired, Mr. Tan was back in office and appointed as temporary public auditor. Subsequently, Mr. Tan assured Mr. Bisom that he would be rehired again and that he should just wait for such appointment in Japan.

He went to Japan and waited for the written contract but instead he was informed on March 10, 1994, by Mr. Tan that he would not rehire him for the job as counsel for OPA.