THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120276
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
The first legal skirmish in a lawsuit filed by a former employee against the Northeast North Carolina Economic Development Commission ended Monday with a postponement of the case until March 25.
Superior Court Richard Parker of Manteo ordered a delay in taking of depositions from all 15 members of the commission in the lawsuit filed by Estelle ``Bunny'' Sanders of Roper, a former tourist director for the commission.
Sanders is seeking unspecified damages from the commission for allegedly arranging her dismissal in several executive sessions last summer.
Her suit charges the commission with violation of the North Carolina open meetings laws. In an amendment to her suit, Sanders further accuses the commission members of wrongfully discharging her.
Also fired was James Lancaster Jr., a former executive director of the commission. Both Lancaster and Sanders were paid $58,000 a year before they got the ax.
Max Busby, an Edenton attorney representing the commission, went before Parker in Perquimans County Superior Court Monday to request a delay in the taking of depositions until after the court rules March 25 on a motion by the commission to dismiss Sanders' suit.
Busby also asked the court to seal any depositions until after the motion to dismiss was heard.
Katherine White, a Raleigh attorney representing Sanders, told the court that ``it was not without irony'' that the commission was requesting sealed documents in a case that originated in an initial claim by Sanders that the commission acted behind closed doors to fire her.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT
by CNB