Adjunct Faculty Association at Nassau Community College

VANGUARD

Charles Loiacono, Editor                                                  Vol. 35, No.8  April 2008

FANELLI DEFIES SUBPOENA SEEKING FINANCIAL RECORDS OF ELI AND LINCC PROGRAMS

Inside This Issue:

The Union's Position
Viewpoint

Sexual Harassment

   In an unusually desperate attempt to hide the financial records connected with the ELI and LINCC programs, NCC President Sean Fanelli has refused to comply with a subpoena seeking disclosure of such records.

            After refusing to respond to AFA requests for the records, Fanelli forced the AFA to serve a subpoena.

            Once the subpoena was served, Fanelli played a new card in the stonewall deck. Claiming the rights of a municipal corporation, Fanelli claimed that the administration has the same right Nassau County has—namely the right to have a subpoena against the county signed by a judge.

            A subpoena can be served by an arbitrator, PERB, a judge, or an attorney. In the case of a municipal corporation, the

requirement is that the subpoena be signed by a judge. In this case, the subpoena was signed by the AFA attorney.

            We believe that it is more than a stretch for Fanelli to consider the administration a municipal corporation, but rather than waste more time proving that point, we have gone to PERB. The Subpoena now reads: “The People of the State of New York to Nassau Community College…We command you…to bring with you, and produce at that time and place aforesaid, all documents described in…”

            We doubt that a PERB subpoena will be defied. Nonetheless, on page 2, the AFA President deals with the possible meaning of Fanelli’s defiance. Regardless of how parallactic the view, it certainly appears that he is hiding something and fears its exposure.