by Mindy Aguon, KUAM News Friday, May 16, 2008 Subscribe to Mindy's newsfeed   E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

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First he filed a complaint for a half-million dollars, then he tried to settle for $150,000. And today former Guam Public School System superintendent Luis Reyes just wanted to get paid. Reyes' attorney, Daniel Berman, appeared in court this afternoon during an ex-parte hearing, asking the judge to award his client pay from the time Reyes was terminated on March 31 to the present.

In a last-minute court action, following the end of mediation discussions with members of the Guam Education Policy Board, Reyes attempted to get a court order for wages he contends are rightfully his.

Reyes initially sought $500,000 from GPSS, claiming he was wrongfully terminated and that the agency had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Following several weeks of mediation, Reyes then offered to settle for a lump sum payment of $150,000 which was denied by board members earlier this week. Today Reyes' request was denied again, this time by Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo, who ruled that the former superintendent has no right to receive pay beyond the date of his definitive termination.

Guam Education Policy Board attorney Frank Gumataotao said, "He has to mediate his dispute first, then after that he has to go through arbitration, we just finished his mediation yesterday so the arbitration will take place hopefully sometime in the very near future and they're limited to 60 days before they have to make a decision after that. If anybody wants to take it to court, they're going to have to overcome the barrier of what the arbitrator's award is."

Reyes was not present during today's hearing and his attorney declined to comment.