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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 information sought 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. 4 Respor 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 contract nor 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 9 KATHLEEN 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) 656-3370 CERTIFICATE 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,

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