Cummings settles lawsuit with regents

Monday, July 19, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

Demoted CCSN lobbyist and presidential adviser John Cummings settled his lawsuit with the Board of Regents on Saturday, Cummings said this morning.

Cummings said he will return to the faculty at the Community College of Southern Nevada as a tenured English professor. He is already teaching a summer school world literature course.

As part of the settlement, the University and Community College System of Nevada will pay Cummings' legal fees and drop the termination proceedings against him, Cummings said. The agreement was signed by Cummings, Chancellor Jim Rogers, Regents Chairman Stavros Anthony and several other regents.

Cummings said this morning that it was a "happy day," and that the settlement represented a "vindication of sorts" after being demoted in November.

Regents demoted Cummings and President Ron Remington in November after a 17-hour closed personnel session investigating hiring and lobbying practices at the community college. Regents who voted for the demotions said they believed Cummings and Remington had circumvented board authority by pursuing a Legislative bill for four-year degrees at the college behind the board's back.

The settlement agreement barred Cummings from releasing his new salary or what the system will be paying to cover his legal fees, Cummings said.

"I'm very pleased with what I'll be making," Cummings said. "I'm very pleased with the agreement all around.

"I'm enjoying teaching again, I'm enjoying not having to think about going back to Carson City," he continued. "It's one of those things, to quote JFK: 'I'm in a position in my life right now where it is very easy for me to forgive my enemies while remembering not to forget their names."'

Cummings credited the settlement to Rogers, who he said has helped both him and the regents get on with the real business of higher education -- educating students.

The settlement bars Cummings from lobbying for or against the system while employed by the system and from seeking an administrator's position anywhere in the system.

That's fine by Cummings, he said, noting that he's glad to be in the classroom and ready for a break from lobbying.

"Most of all I look forward to not living in a hotel room for six months every two years," Cummings said.

The settlement, however, does not mean that Cummings' political days are over -- just postponed and limited to issues not related to higher education. He did not rule out working in politics again.

"I've had five lives so far, and I have about four left in me," Cummings said. "I look forward to being a full-time professor in my classroom, being with my students, and writing in my academic field, but I will also likely be an adviser and consultant in the political arena as well -- just not for the system."

The settlement has a stipulation that Cummings cannot disparage any of the current members of the Board of Regents, nor can they disparage him.

"The spirit of the agreement is that we will not talk bad about one another," Cummings said. "What did Don Henley say? 'When you get down to the sprit of things it's all about forgiveness."'

The settlement also protects Cummings against any future responsibility for issues connected to the investigation into hiring and lobbying practices that led to his demotion.

Remington said this morning negotiations were continuing in his case and things were going well.

"I'm happy for both the system and for John," Remington said. "The system needs to move on and John needs to get on with his life, so this is wonderful."

Both men denied the allegations and filed suit in district court, along with the Nevada attorney general's office, accusing the board of having violated the state's open-meeting law.

District Court Judge Jackie Glass voided those demotions in June after ruling that the Board of Regents violated the law during that meeting. Her ruling was silent on whether the men were reinstated.

Regents reached this morning were fuzzy on the details of the settlement, as most said they signed the agreement weeks ago. Others refused to comment.

Regent Steve Sisolak said he believed Cummings would be paid near the top of the salary schedule for tenured professors at CCSN, in the high $70,000 range. Sisolak also said the legal fees amounted to about $25,000.

"I think the system got away pretty cheap and it obviously shows that he shouldn't have been fired," Sisolak said.

Regents do not normally sign settlement agreements that are less than $50,000, Sisolak said.

Sisolak and Regent Mark Alden, outspoken critics of the board's actions in November, said they were grateful the matter was finally resolved.

"I think it's the best the system could have hoped for, absolutely," Sisolak said. "We had some real issues and some real problems.

"At the same time this is one of two, we need to do the other one."

Alden agreed, saying "It is our job to be in the classroom, not the courtroom."

He said he had talked to Cummings and Cummings indicated to him that he did not want to return to the Legislature as a lobbyist for the college.

The chancellor was out of town this morning and was not reachable for comment. System attorney Tom Ray was also not available. Anthony referred calls to the chancellor's office.