Attorneys for the Borough and former members of the Wrangell Medical Center board were busy last week, with filings coming from both sides of the bar in a lawsuit that seeks the return of former administrator Noel Rea’s six-figure severance package.
In a stipulation filed July 30 by Anchorage attorney Jon Dawson, who is counsel for Mark Robinson, Sylvia Ettefagh, Linda Bjorge, Lurine McGee, Jim Nelson and LeAnn Rinehart, he asked that the time for the six former members to respond to the borough lawsuit be extended until Aug. 10. Ketchikan Superior Court Judge William B. Carey approved that motion on Aug. 6.
On Aug. 1, borough attorney Bob Blasco filed a request for a jury trial in the matter.
The borough is seeking the return of a severance check in the amount of $520,788.58, which the city alleges was paid to Rea via a wire transfer on June 21 – one day after the former board voted 6-1 to fire him without cause – and is also seeking to have Rea’s firing declared illegal under Alaska’s Open Meetings Act.
Judge Carey, who replaced First District Court Judge Kevin Miller in the suit on July 18, has not set a trial date.
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