By Juan Montoya
Despite the Herculean efforts of trustee Dr. Rey Garcia and former Texas President Lily Tercero to raid the Texas Southmost College general fund and snub the noses of the other trustees in the dirt, federal judge Judge Andrew S. Hanen has dismissed all allegations against them.
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That leaves only TSC as a defendant in the lawsuit where Tercero is claiming she was illegally terminated. She sued TSC and all the trustees except Garcia and Art Rendon, who were the only ones voted against her termination.
Miffed, octogenarian Garcia filed a complaint with the Southern Association Colleges and School Commission On Colleges asking them to review TSC's accreditation because he felt they were picking on his Lily.
SAC-COC determined there was nothing there. Yet, Garcia's gambit revealed where his loyalties lay. It wasn't with the 5,000 students who might have been potentially hurt if there had been any merit to his complaint. No, they lay with Tercero, who Templar Knight Garcia thought was a maiden in distress.
Never mind that many students (and their families) had been negatively impacted when she allowed a nursing program to fail at the school, that she had continued using the signature stamp of trustees to issue more than $1 million in checks when they were no longer on the board, or that it took her three years instead of one to gain TSC independent accreditation after the break-up of the failed UTB-TSC "partnership".
Throw in the $1 million-plus contract for windstorm insurance that she approved without consulting the board and you have a dysfunctional college presidency. But Garcia championed Tercero's cause through thick and thin and TSC and its students be damned.
In the latest wrinkle of the Tercero Crusade, the local daily reported that Hanen granted a motion for summary judgment against the former president but did not dismiss her claims that the hearing where she was fired was a sham and that the college violated her employment contract.
Tercero filed her lawsuit in federal court in November 2016, alleging that the five trustees issued illegal and unreasonable directives that she was unable to fulfill in order to fire her from the job she held for roughly five years, resulting in an alleged violation of due process.
The Herald reported that Hanen "disagreed with most of Tercero’s allegations and sided with TSC’s motion for summary judgment resulting in the dismissal of the due process claims and a claim brought under the Texas Open Meetings Act. In the June 4 ruling, Hanen also dismissed all of the allegations against the trustees leaving only TSC as the remaining defendant in the litigation."
At stake is three years salary ($684,684) plus benefits and attorneys' fees. Her contract would have expired May 1, 2019
Hanen whittled down her complaint from nine points to six which will be argued in a trial if there is no settlement reached before that. The major bone of contention is her claim that her termination hearing was foregone conclusion.
“Though the Court finds some of Tercero’s claimed procedural defects dubious, a fact issue exists on whether the hearing was a sham, and that defeats summary judgment,” Hanen wrote in his order.
“Since Tercero has provided some evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to believe the hearing was a sham,” the motion summary judgment cannot be granted, Hanen wrote in his order.
“The Court holds that the District is not immune from Tercero’s breach of contract claim and that fact issues preclude summary judgment on merits,” Hanen wrote in his order.
Doubtless, Tercero and her lawyers will walk away with a nice chunk of cash for their efforts. Meanwhile, the college has rebounded since the "partnership" separation and Tercero's mediocre tenure achieving record enrollments and graduates. Along the way, tuition has been cut drastically and new programs have been implemented to serve the local community.
And chivalrous Rey? He is asking the voters of the district to put his trust in him and is running for another six year term in a runoff election with J.J. De Leon. Early voting starts Monday and continues until June 19. Election day is June 23.
It's up to us, the voters, to decide whether we keep his type of "leadership" or move on to the future.
Despite the Herculean efforts of trustee Dr. Rey Garcia and former Texas President Lily Tercero to raid the Texas Southmost College general fund and snub the noses of the other trustees in the dirt, federal judge Judge Andrew S. Hanen has dismissed all allegations against them.
That leaves only TSC as a defendant in the lawsuit where Tercero is claiming she was illegally terminated. She sued TSC and all the trustees except Garcia and Art Rendon, who were the only ones voted against her termination.Miffed, octogenarian Garcia filed a complaint with the Southern Association Colleges and School Commission On Colleges asking them to review TSC's accreditation because he felt they were picking on his Lily.
SAC-COC determined there was nothing there. Yet, Garcia's gambit revealed where his loyalties lay. It wasn't with the 5,000 students who might have been potentially hurt if there had been any merit to his complaint. No, they lay with Tercero, who Templar Knight Garcia thought was a maiden in distress.
Never mind that many students (and their families) had been negatively impacted when she allowed a nursing program to fail at the school, that she had continued using the signature stamp of trustees to issue more than $1 million in checks when they were no longer on the board, or that it took her three years instead of one to gain TSC independent accreditation after the break-up of the failed UTB-TSC "partnership".
Throw in the $1 million-plus contract for windstorm insurance that she approved without consulting the board and you have a dysfunctional college presidency. But Garcia championed Tercero's cause through thick and thin and TSC and its students be damned.
In the latest wrinkle of the Tercero Crusade, the local daily reported that Hanen granted a motion for summary judgment against the former president but did not dismiss her claims that the hearing where she was fired was a sham and that the college violated her employment contract.
Tercero filed her lawsuit in federal court in November 2016, alleging that the five trustees issued illegal and unreasonable directives that she was unable to fulfill in order to fire her from the job she held for roughly five years, resulting in an alleged violation of due process.
The Herald reported that Hanen "disagreed with most of Tercero’s allegations and sided with TSC’s motion for summary judgment resulting in the dismissal of the due process claims and a claim brought under the Texas Open Meetings Act. In the June 4 ruling, Hanen also dismissed all of the allegations against the trustees leaving only TSC as the remaining defendant in the litigation."
At stake is three years salary ($684,684) plus benefits and attorneys' fees. Her contract would have expired May 1, 2019
Hanen whittled down her complaint from nine points to six which will be argued in a trial if there is no settlement reached before that. The major bone of contention is her claim that her termination hearing was foregone conclusion.
“Though the Court finds some of Tercero’s claimed procedural defects dubious, a fact issue exists on whether the hearing was a sham, and that defeats summary judgment,” Hanen wrote in his order.
“Since Tercero has provided some evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to believe the hearing was a sham,” the motion summary judgment cannot be granted, Hanen wrote in his order.
“The Court holds that the District is not immune from Tercero’s breach of contract claim and that fact issues preclude summary judgment on merits,” Hanen wrote in his order.
Doubtless, Tercero and her lawyers will walk away with a nice chunk of cash for their efforts. Meanwhile, the college has rebounded since the "partnership" separation and Tercero's mediocre tenure achieving record enrollments and graduates. Along the way, tuition has been cut drastically and new programs have been implemented to serve the local community.
And chivalrous Rey? He is asking the voters of the district to put his trust in him and is running for another six year term in a runoff election with J.J. De Leon. Early voting starts Monday and continues until June 19. Election day is June 23.
It's up to us, the voters, to decide whether we keep his type of "leadership" or move on to the future.