Socorro Electric Co-op settles with former managers
Socorro Electric Cooperative has two fewer lawsuits to deal with.
The co-op settled two wage and hours claims with former managers last month, paying out $30,000 as compensation for failing to settle up within the time frame established by state law after they were fired last August.
Polo Pineda Jr., who served as the co-op’s general manager for seven years, and Kathy Torres, the accounting manager who had been with the company for 22 years, were fired last year in the wake of an investigation into financial irregularities.
An audit revealed that the managers had taken out loans through the co-op and broke policy by not paying them back in a timely manner. Between them, the managers had borrowed more than $35,000, all of which was eventually paid back in full.
The managers were initially placed on administrative leave with pay, but were fired on Aug. 25, 2010.
State law requires that all unpaid wages and compensation be paid within five days of termination, or in their case by Aug. 30. According to the complaints, Pineda didn’t receive final payment of wages and compensation until Sept. 3 and Torres didn’t receive hers until Sept. 4.
Pineda filed his wage and hour claim Oct. 18 in 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque. Torres submitted her claim in the 7th Judicial District Court in Socorro two days later.
In each case, the lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice, meaning the managers cannot bring another suit on the same claim.
The stipulated dismissal in Torres’ case was filed on April 5. As state law allows, she was seeking 60 days pay as compensation. At an hourly rate of $31.58, the settlement amounted to $10,947.73.
The dismissal in Pineda’s case became official April 21. At an hourly rate of $54.84, he was entitled to $19,004.27.
Pineda’s complaint originally asked for an additional $58,646.27 in unused sick time, but Albuquerque attorney J. Edward Hollington, who represents both Pineda and Torres, said the sick time compensation was not part of the settlement.
Lorna Wiggins, an Albuquerque attorney who represented Socorro Electric in the Torres case, through an aide declined to comment.
Co-op Attorney Dennis Francish would only confirm that Pineda’s case against the co-op had been settled in accordance with state law.
Pineda and Torres have also each filed a pair of complaints against the co-op with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Torres filed her first claim more than a month before she was let go, charging sexual and racial discrimination and retaliation. She submitted a second complaint alleging retaliation on the day she was fired.
Pineda filed a complaint of retaliation two weeks after he was fired. He filed another for age discrimination earlier this year after the co-op hired his successor, Joseph Herrera, who is 20 years younger than Pineda.
Hollington, who’s also representing Pineda and Torres in the EEOC complaints, said all of them are still pending.
On a separate matter, a hearing on the co-op’s lawsuit against its member-owners is scheduled for Wednesday in district court in Socorro.
Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Albert J. Mitchell Jr., who was appointed to the case by the New Mexico Supreme Court, will hear arguments on the merits of the case.
Socorro Electric filed the lawsuit last June in an attempt to block three bylaws — all of which call for increased transparency of governance — passed by member-owners of the non-profit corporation at the 2010 annual meeting.
The judge will also begin addressing a counterclaim against individual trustees and other former co-op officials, including Pineda, which requests class action certification.
The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18, at the Socorro County Courthouse.
Contact T.S. Last