In THE SupERIOR CourT OF DEKALB COUNTY
STATEOP GEORGIA
ANTHONY S. TRICOLI,
PLAINTIFF,
vs. CIVIL ACTION FILENO. 14-CV-4911
Ros Warts; RON CARRUTH; JIM RASMUS;
MarK GERSPACHER; SHELBTHA CHAMPION;
HENRY HUCKABY; JOHN FUCHKO;
Seve WRIGLEY; BEN TARBUTTON;
‘Te BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE
University SysTeM Or GEORGIA;
SAM OLENS, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF GEORGIA; AND ROBIN JENKINS,
DEFENDANTS.
DEFENDANTS’ OBJECTIONS AND RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFF’S REQUESTS FOR ADMISSIONS:
Comes NOW THE DEFENDANTS and respond to PlaintifP's Requests for Admissions as
follows:
OBJECTION To REQUESTS
Defendants object to Plaintiff's Requests in their entirety as being premature pursuant to
O.C.G.A. § 9-11-12 (1). Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss contemporaneous with the
filing of their Special Appearance Answer. Therefore, discovery in this action was stayed, and
PlaintifPs filing of these discovery requests preceded the expiration of the stay.
RESPONSES TO REQUESTS
Subject co the foregoing objections, on the basis of information now known to Defendants
and their counsel and without admitting the relevancy or materiality of any of the informationsought by the Plaintiff or contained in the following responses, Defendants respond to the
Plaintiff's Requests as follows:
Request No. 1
Plaintiff Anthony Tricoli was employed starting in October 2006 pursuant to a
written contract of employment with Defendant Board of Regents of the
University System of Georgia.
Response
Denied. Presidents serving with the University System of Georgia (“USG”) ate not
entitled to a written employment contract. USG Policy 2.1. Defendant Board of Regents of the
University System of Georgia (“BOR”) does admit that Plaintiff did accept an appointment as
President of Georgia Perimeter College (“GPC”) in October 2006.
REQUEST No. 2
‘That written contract is in the possession of the Defendants Board of Regents
Response
Denied for the reasons stated above. BOR does admit that it possesses a copy of the
appointment letter of August 7, 2006 with Plaintiff's signed acknowledgement accepting that
appointment.
REQUEST No, 3
Anthony Tricoli’s written contract contains @ provision that it will renew on an
annual basis if the Board of Regents does not give notice of non-renewal by April
of the year,Response
Denied. Presidents serving with the USG are not entitled to a written employment
contract nor is there any automatic renewal provision or automatic renewal of such
appointments,
Request No. 4
‘Tricoli was employed under that annual contract with yearly re-appointments
from 2006 to 2012.
Response
Denied for the reasons stated above. BOR does admit that Plaintiff was reappointed to
his position as President of Georgia Perimeter College (“GPC”) in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and
2011 for the subsequent fiscal years.
REQUEST No. 5
In April of 2012, the Board of Regents did not give notice of non-renewal of
Tricoli’s contract,
Response
Denied. Presidents serving with the USG are not entitled to a written employment
contract, BOR does admit that Plaintiff was not reappointed to his position as President of GPC
in 2012 for fiscal year 2013.
REQUEST NO. 6
‘The Board of Regents did purport to give notice of non-renewal, as announced in
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in May of 2012.
Response
Defendants object to this request as non-specific and vague and in that it seeks to have
BOR vouch for unidentified statements made in an unidentified news article.Request No. 7
‘This renewal occurred after the deadline for notice of non-renewal in the written
contract of employment,
Response
Defendants object to this request as incomprehensible as stated, To the extent any further
response is required, the request is denied.
REQUEST NO. 8
No new developments or extenuating circumstances arose, of which the Board
was not aware in April of 2012, to justify non-renewal of the contract in May.
Response
Defendants object to this request as incomprehensible as stated. To the extent any further
response is required, the request is denied,
REQUEST No. 9
The notice of non-renewal or re-appointment provision is standard in Regents
contact with schoo! presidents serving in the USG.
Response
Denied. Presidents serving with the USG are not entitled to a written employment
contract. BOR does admit that USG Policy 2.4.2 states: “If the Board declines to re-appoint a
president, it shall notify the president, through the Chancellor, of such decision immediately
following the Board’s regularly scheduled May meeting.” ‘To the extent any further response is
required, the request is denied.
ReguestNo. 10
After Tricoli’s forced departure, the Regents changed the procedure to allow for
notice of non-renewal in May.
4Respor
Defendants object to this request as vague and argumentative, Subject to that objection,
BOR admits that USG Policy 2.4.2 was amended in 2014 as follows: “If the Board declines to
re-appoint a president, it shall notify the president, through the Chancellor, of such decision
immediately following the Board’s regularly scheduled Aprit May meeting. A decision by the
Board not to re-appoint a president is not subject to appeal. To the extent any further response is
required, the request is denied
Request No. 11
The representation as to whether ‘Tricoli was employed under a written contract
with the Regents is a matter under the jurisdiction of the State,
Respor
2
Defendants object to this request as the term “under the jurisdiction of the State” is
incomprehensible in this context. If by the term “jurisdiction,” Plaintiff is referencing the
location of where the alleged loss complained of occurred, Defendants admit that Plaintif?'s
alleged loss occurred in Georgia. If by “jurisdiction,” Plaintiff is referencing BOR’s status as a
governmental entity of the State of Georgia, BOR admits that itis a state government entity. To
the extent any further response is required, the request is denied,
Request No. 12
After Tricoli’s annual contract renewed in April of 2012, Regents Chancellor
‘Huckaby demanded that Tricoli resign and threatened to fire him if he did not.
Response
Defendants object to this request as argumentative. Subject to that objection, the request
is denied as Presidents serving with the USG are not entitled to a written employment contractnor is there any automatic renewal provision. BOR does admit that it understands that
Chancellor Huckaby did ask Tricoli to resign his position as President of GPC.
Request No. 13,
‘Tricoli did not resign, and Huckaby offered Tricoli a position in the USG central
office if Tricoli would resign.
Response
Defendants object to this request as contradictory in light of Plaintif?’s statement in
Request No. 16 that he “resigned as president” of GPC. Subject to that objection, BOR does
admit that it understands that BOR Chancellor Huckaby did ask Plaintiff to resign his position as
President of GPC and that there was discussion regarding having Plaintiff assist with USG’s
initiatives in distance education, adult degree completion and learning support programs,
REQUEST No. 14
Tricoli’s reassignment to the USG was announced in the media by the USG.
Response
Defendants object to this request as non-specific and vague and in that it seeks to have
BOR vouch for unidentified announcements “in the media.”
REQUEST No. 15
The report of the USG reassignment to the press concemed a matter under the
jurisdiction of the State,
Response
Defendants object to this request for the reasons stated above and as the term “under the
jurisdiction of the State” is incomprehensible in this context. To the extent any further response
is required, the request is denied,REQUESTNo. 16
Tricoli accepted the offer of the USG position and resigned as president of
Georgia Perimeter College.
Response
Defendants admit this request to the extent that Plaintiff resigned as President of GPC but
continued his employment with USG for the duration of fiscal year 2012 and that there was
discussion regarding having Plaintiff assist with USG’s initiatives in distance education, adult
degree completion and learning support programs.
REQUESTNO. 17
After obtaining Tricoli’s resignation, Huckaby on behalf of the Regents withdrew
the USG job offer to Tricoli and announced it was not renewing his contract as,
president of GPC.
Response
Defendants object to this request as argumentative and contradictory in light of Plaintiff's
statement in Request No, 16 that he “resigned as president” of GPC. Subject to that objection,
the request is denied as Presidents serving with the USG are not entitled to a written employment
contract. Defendants further note that following Plaintif?’s resignation as President of GPC, he
continued his employment with USG for the duration of fiseal year 2012.
ReQuest No. 18
‘The withdrawal was based on the release of knowingly false information under
the jurisdiction of the State to the media,Response
Defendants object to this request as the term “under the jurisdiction of the State” is
incomprehensible in this context. To the extent any further response is required, the request is
denied.
Request No. 19
Defendants at GPC and the USG began communicating among themselves
concerning serious budgetary shortfalls and depletion of reserves at least as early
as January 2012,
Response
Defendants object to this request as vague. Subject to that objection, Defendants deny
the request as stated. BOR does admit that in April 2012, an employee recently assigned to
GPC’s Office of Financial and Administrative Affairs analyzed projected revenues and expenses
for the remainder of fiscal year 2012 and found that GPC’s expenses were projected to exceed
both projected revenue and available reserves and that the projected shortfall required external
resources to ensure that GPC could meet its short-term operational needs. A subsequent review
issued in September 2012 by USGs Office of Internal Audit and Compliance (“OIAC”) found
internal emails among some employees of GPC’s Office of Financial and Administrative Affairs
starting in January 2012 that referenced declines in GPC’s auxiliary fund balances and the use of
auxiliary reserves for non-auxiliary expenditures over the past several fiscal years; however,
there was no indication that these emails were shared with anyone outside of GPC until several
months later. ‘To the extent any further response is required, the request is denied.REQUESTNo. 20
Defendants did not share any information concerning the budget crisis with
Tricolj before April 25, 2012, and in fact falsely informed him that GPC was
running a budgetary surplus.
Response
Denied, GPC’s management, including the Plaintiff, had access to annual financial
reports, cash balances, and financial system queries and reports available for use in
understanding the institution’s fiscal situation, Annual Financial Reports available at each fiscal
year end (2009-2011) included basis and Budgetary Compliance reports, operating results, cash
flow statements, and audit issues. ‘The reports indicated that expenses exceeded revenue and an
overall decline in financial position and a continuing decline in unrestricted net assets, ‘These
reports were publicly available. In addition, it appears that the Plaintiff signed off on the draft
reports for fiscal years 2009, 2010 and 2011. While Plaintiff might have relied on other GPC
employees in the execution of his fiduciary responsibilities as President of GPC, the ultimate
responsibility for GPC’s financial management rested with him. See USG Policy 2.5. The
Plaintiff, as GPC President, did not perform the necessary financial due diligence associated with
his responsibilities as President. Most notably, the Plaintiff did not adequately review the
financial statements of the institution issued under his authority. To the extent any further
response is required, the request is denied.
Respectfully submitted,
SAMUEL S. OLENS 551540
Attomey General
DENNIS R. DUNN 234098
Deputy Attorney General
9KATHLEEN M. PACIOUS 558555
Deputy Attorney General
ANNETTE M, COWART 191199
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Loretta L. PINKSTON 580385,
Senior Assistant Attorney General
7
cl Ley bie a
Senior Assistant Attorney General
PLEASE ADDRESS ALL
ComMUNICATIONS To:
Christopher A. McGraw
C. MeLaurin Sitton
Assistant Attorney General
40 Capitol Square, SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1300
Telephone: (404) 656-3370CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
T do hereby certify that I have this day served the within and foregoing DErENDANTS*
OBsECTIONS AND RESPONSES TO PLAINTIFF'S FIRST REQUESTS FOR ADMISSIONS, by depositing a
copy thereof, postage prepaid, in the United States Mail properly addressed upon the following:
Stephen F, Humphreys
Post Office Box 192
Athens, Georgia 30603
‘This 22" day of October, 2014.
McLaurin SITron,