Regents lose move in lawsuit

Thursday, April 29, 2004 | 10:55 a.m.

District Judge Jackie Glass denied on Wednesday the university system attorney's request to postpone discovery in the ongoing open-meeting law violation lawsuit against the regents.

Glass ruled that discovery in the case should move forward.

University and Community College System of Nevada attorneys had asked Glass to postpone the discovery process until the Nevada Supreme Court ruled on appeals connected to Ron Remington's and John Cummings' lawsuits against the regents.

Remington, former president of the Community College of Southern Nevada, and Cummings, former CCSN lobbyist, sued the board after being removed from their posts. The Nevada attorney general's office later joined the suit, alleging that the regents violated the state's open-meeting law during two closed personnel sessions Nov. 17 and 20.

Those closed sessions led to the demotion of both Remington and Cummings by a split vote, and the plaintiffs are suing to have those votes invalidated.

Remington's attorney, Kathleen England, said attorneys for the university system have been stalling the discovery process for months and she is working on several motions to compel them to release information.

A deposition is scheduled for May 10 for Topazia "Briget" Jones, the woman whose firing began the investigation into Cummings' and Remington's legislative actions, England said.

Attorneys for the university system declined to comment.