Deployed reservist to keep his job
Judge halts school from replacing dean before hearing upon his return
BY LINDA SATTER
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
MAY 3, 2005

An Army reservist scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan on Wednesday will retain his position as dean of students at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts during his tour of duty, under the terms of a settlement finalized Monday in federal court.

The agreement prevents the school from hiring a permanent replacement for Lt. Col. John I. Kaminar, who was told Feb. 25, shortly after he got word of his overseas assignment, that his contract would not be renewed after it expires June 30.

Kaminar, of Benton , filed a lawsuit April 20 alleging that his due process rights were violated because he was not given a chance to contest the nonrenewal of his contract before his deployment, which is expected to last eight to 12 months. The lawsuit also contends that, despite "pretextual" reasons cited for the nonrenewal, the real reason he was being let go was that the school’s director did not like Kaminar’s military service interrupting his job duties, in violation of federal law, state law and public policy.

John Measel, director of the residential school for highachieving high school juniors and seniors in Hot Springs , has not commented publicly on Kaminar’s allegations. But Little Rock attorney Morgan "Chip" Welch, who filed suit on Kaminar’s behalf, said Measel told Kaminar that his contract was not being renewed because of the way he handled two situations involving students caught with marijuana and a situation involving an employee with "personal problems."

The school’s answer to the lawsuit is not publicly available because it was filed under seal. Welch said the school asked that the document be sealed to protect the confidentiality of the other employee’s personnel and health records.

Kaminar, who has taught at the school since 1995 and has been the dean of students since 2000, had a clean personnel record until he mentioned to other employees in February that he might be sent overseas, and those employees passed the information on to Measel, the lawsuit says.

It says Measel then began ini- tiating "a series of acts" to justify not renewing the contract. The suit also asserts that Measel’s true reasons for not renewing Kaminar’s contract are evident in the director’s "history of adverse reaction to the military service of faculty and staff," including contacting the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., in 2004 to complain about the frequency of Kaminar’s military duties.

A hearing on Kaminar’s request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prevent the school from permanently replacing Kaminar in his absence was scheduled for Monday morning in Hot Springs before U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson of Fort Smith .

However, after meeting with attorneys in his chambers Monday, Dawson announced that the preliminary aspects of the case had been resolved, with no need for a hearing. He said the attorneys had negotiated a resolution late Friday afternoon, but it was not official until all appeared in court Monday.

The two sides agreed that, in return for Kaminar’s withdrawing his request for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order, the school will not permanently fill his position until he has returned from active duty and has had a "full and fair hearing" on the nonrenewal decision.

The school did not rescind its decision not to renew Kaminar’s contract, but he will have a chance to fight to keep his job upon his return.

Welch said that if Kaminar, 44, does not win his effort to have his contract renewed, he will press ahead with the lawsuit’s claims of unlawful discharge under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of military service.

The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act prohibits action on the lawsuit during Kaminar’s deployment. The act essentially brings litigation involving active-duty service personnel to a standstill until the tour of duty is over.

Dawson noted that he had excused Kaminar from attending Monday’s hearing because he is at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma preparing for deployment Wednesday. Kaminar’s wife, Toni, who also has acted as his attorney, was in the courtroom.

Neither Measel nor any other school official was present. Representing them was Melissa Rust, associate general counsel for the University of Arkansas , which began overseeing the school this academic year. The school previously was under the auspices of the state Department of Education.

Rust agreed with the terms of the agreement that Welch read into the court record. She said later that faculty member Diana Hampo will fill Kaminar’s position in his absence.

Dawson told the parties that he once found himself in a situation similar to Kaminar’s when he had to put a law school teaching job on hold while he was on active duty.

Welch said after the hearing that the faculty senate passed a resolution last week in support of Kaminar. But Brian Monson, a physics teacher who is president of the faculty senate, said later Monday that "a resolution was introduced but was rejected by the membership."

Monson did not elaborate. He said the membership includes all faculty and staff except senior administrators.