HAMPTON - After a recent hearing, 14th Circuit Judge Carmen T. Mullen dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of former Hampton School District Two administrator Fayette Nick, but this case may be far from over.
A civil complaint in the case of Fayette Nick vs. Hampton County School District Two was dismissed by Mullen without prejudice in a Feb. 17 order, citing that Nick "failed to exhaust her administrative remedies" before turning to the court for relief.
"We are pleased with the judge's order and her finding that the court lacked jurisdiction," said Ralph Smiley, an attorney with Boykin & Davis, the firm representing the district. Smiley declined to comment further on the matter.
On Jan. 5, 2009, Nick's attorneys filed the civil suit against the district alleging breach of contract, libel, and slander after being placed on administrative leave from the district for the second time in her brief career in Hampton Two on Dec. 9, 2008.
According to the judge's order, Nick filed a grievance with the district on Dec. 19, but then filed the suit before the district could respond to the grievance or complete the administrative process. The judge further concluded that the matter was still an "internal employment decision" of the district because there has not been a "final agency determination by the district's Board of Trustees" so the matter was not under the court's jurisdiction at this time.
A later suit, asking the court to order a hearing before the full Hampton Two board, was voluntarily dismissed on Feb. 4 by Nick's attorney, Virgin Johnson, Jr., as it was unnecessary in light of the judge's ruling.
Attorneys representing Nick also took the ruling as good news.
"The case is not terminated," said Johnson. "This case was dismissed without prejudice, which means we can bring it back. We are now waiting on them to either give us a hearing, and if it is satisfactory then this will be over; or, if they deny the hearing, it gives us the right to be right back in court."
Johnson said that the board never officially voted to terminate Nick's employment and that her situation was still "in limbo." He added that Nick has never received a hearing before the full board and that she has the right to a hearing.
"That's what we were asking for all along, a hearing or a denial of a hearing," he added. "This is just a technicality that puts us back in court. It's all about completing the process."
Johnson said that on Monday morning he filed a request with the district requesting a hearing before the full board.