Suit over non-disclosure of Census hiring junked

Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman dismissed yesterday a lawsuit filed by a couple against four then and current CNMI government officials for allegedly refusing to disclose public records relating to the recruitment and hiring for the 2010 CNMI Census.

Wiseman ruled that the lawsuit filed by Joaquin S. Torres and his wife, Diana Q. Verdejo, fails to satisfy NMI Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires each statement of a pleading to be “simple, concise, and direct.”

“A number of paragraphs in the complaint include redundant material, conclusory allegations, argument, and/or citations to case law,” Wiseman said.

Generally, Wiseman said, the court would strike these paragraphs for failing to adhere to the Rules.

However, because Torres and Verdejo filed the case without a lawyer, the court will instead dismiss the lawsuit and allow the couple one more chance to file a second amended complaint to comply with the court’s order.

Wiseman also granted a motion to substitute named five Commonwealth employees as defendants for the Commonwealth.

“A suit against a government employee in his/her official capacity is a suit against the government,” Wiseman said, citing precedent.

Torres and Verdejo are suing then Commerce secretary Michael Ada, his then deputy, Sixto Igisomar; special assistant for administration Esther Fleming, and special assistant for personnel matters Matilde Rosario.

In addition, the couple named as defendants the Department of Commerce, Office of the Special Assistant for Administration, Office of the Special Assistant for Personnel, Office of Personnel Management, and the Pre-Selection Panel/Committee.

In their lawsuit, the couple alleged that Ada failed to respond to their request for documents and refused to provide them the public records they were asking for.

The couple said that Igisomar, Fleming, and Rosario either did not respond or had claimed that the records were either not public documents or are exempt from disclosure under the Open Government Act.

In September 2009, Verdejo applied for the position of executive assistant, administrative assistant, and supervisor in response to an ad for 14 positions with the CNMI Census Local Office. She was not selected for any of these positions.

The couple asked Ada for documents that detail how Commerce filled all 14 positions. Ada, however, allegedly denied them access to these records.

The defendants, through assistant attorney general David Lochabay, moved to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the defendants are not proper parties to this suit. He also argued that Torres and Verdejo failed to plead a short and plain statement of their claim.

Wiseman said that if the court were to force each of the named individuals to hire separate attorneys to defend themselves, this would be a complete waste of judicial resources because the real party in interest is ultimately the Commonwealth.

Wiseman said that the Commonwealth should be substituted in the place of the defendants.

For the same reasons, the judge ruled that the government agencies named as defendants have no power to sue and be sued and that they shall be substituted with the Commonwealth.