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Guam judge assigned to handle Taisague lawsuit
Chief judges Ramona V. Manglona and Frances Tydingco-Gatewood have assigned to a magistrate judge in Guam the lawsuit filed by Jesus I. Taisague, who had questioned the constitutionality of the settlement agreement in Betty Johnson’s class action against the Retirement Fund and others.
Manglona, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the NMI, and Tydingco-Gatewood, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for Guam, agreed that a Guam judge shall be assigned for the duration of Taisague’s lawsuit, and for any additional time required to complete any related business, and to perform settlement duties in the case.
Manglona and Tydingco-Gatewood have determined that recusal of all local federal judges from Taisague’s case has created an “emergency,” requiring temporary assignment of a magistrate judge from the District of Guam to the District Court for the NMI.
Tydingco-Gatewood has been designated to preside over Taisague’s case by a court order dated Oct. 29, 2013.
Taisague filed the lawsuit in 2013 against then-governor Eloy S. Inos, the CNMI government, Department of Finance, and the Retirement Fund for entering into a settlement agreement with Johnson that, according to him, is unconstitutional and illegal.
Taisague filed the case through counsel Ramon Quichocho, who is now a disbarred lawyer.
In December 2013, Tydingco-Gatewood denied Taisague’s motion that seeks an order enjoining Inos and the CNMI government from withholding or failing to pay 100 percent of his pension benefits.
Tydingco-Gatewood said that, unlike a wrongfully terminated employee, whose injury is the loss of all income and health insurance, Taisague’s injury is the deferment of no more than 25 percent of his income (pension payments)—without any loss of his health insurance coverage.
The judge noted that Taisague has not demonstrated why this 25 percent deferment is an irreparable injury.
Taisague was among the 16 persons who opted out of the Johnson settlement agreement.
