The wrongful termination suit filed six months ago by former Española personnel director Ken Kollecker against the city was dismissed Aug. 6 by a federal District Court judge.
Court documents cite the plaintiff’s failure to file a response to the city’s motion to dismiss as “consent to grant the motion.”
Kollecker filed the suit Feb. 19 against the city and individual city council members, claiming that he was not reappointed to the personnel position because he had spoken out against the current administration, according to court documents. Kollecker was one of four former directors fired at a March 2006 city council meeting. At that meeting, the council voted unanimously to terminate Kollecker, former senior center director Christine Bustos, finance director Lillian Brooks and planning and zoning director Marvin Vigil. It was the first meeting held by the city after Mayor Joseph Maestas and his slate swept to office earlier that month.
The case was dismissed with prejudice which means it cannot be refiled, City Attorney Angela Pacheco said.
“That’s the end of the case,” Pacheco said. “Basically the judge determined that there was not a viable claim that Kollecker can make against the city.”
Vigil and Bustos currently have breach of contract suits pending against the city and council members, which stem from the March 2006 firing. According to court documents, Bustos’ suit is scheduled for jury selection Oct. 20, in state District Court. Vigil’s suit is scheduled for a jury trial Jan. 5, 2009, in federal District Court, according to his attorney Paul Mannick, of the Santa Fe-based law firm, Coppler and Mannick.
Mannick said he does not believe Kollecker’s case will have any affect on Vigil’s case.
“You might see the way the wind is blowing,” Mannick said.
But because the case was at the District Court level and not a higher appeals court, it does not set any sort of precedent, he said.
“It’s not going to control the result in another case,” he said.
In addition, there are issues in Vigil’s case that are different from Kollecker’s, Mannick said.
“One issue is that Marvin’s wife brought up a lawsuit challenging the candidacy of one of the candidates on the slate that eventually won,” he said.
Vigil is married to Española attorney Yvonne Quintana, who represented Kollecker and currently represents Bustos. In January 2006, Quintana represented city residents who wanted candidate Cecilia Lujan, a member of Maestas’ slate, kept off the ballot because she filed her candidacy papers one minute after the 5 p.m. filing deadline. Lujan eventually won a seat on the council as a write-in candidate. Quintana was not available for comment.
So far the city has paid $28,581 to Albuquerque-based attorney Aaron Viets for legal services related to the Vigil case. No invoices have been submitted for legal expenses related to Kollecker’s or Bustos’ suits. According to city documents, in December 2007 the city paid Brooks $29,955 to settle a federal lawsuit she brought against the city for breach of contract and civil rights violations.