A federal judge discharged an order to “show cause” Thursday and said he will not sanction an attorney representing the UVI Research and Technology Park who missed the deadline to respond to an amended whistleblower complaint filed by the entity’s former chief executive.
The RTPark had previously requested an extension until April 14 to respond to the amended complaint filed by former CEO Peter Chapman, in part because the attorney planned to be out of the territory attending to a personal matter.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Emile Henderson III gave the defendants until April 11. He wrote that the court “remains concerned about the slow progress this case has made since its inception and does not understand why Defendants require ten additional days to respond to Plaintiff’s complaint when they have already had such a lengthy time to prepare a response, particularly given that Attorney [Michelle] Meade states that she will only be off island ‘this week.’”
The RTPark failed to respond by the April 11 deadline and, on April 14, requested a second extension to address a separate discrimination lawsuit filed by Chapman, writing that the parties “are working toward possible consolidation and proper response to the combined action.”
Henderson acknowledged the second lawsuit in his April 15 order to “show cause” and granted the second request, “because the remedy when a party fails to timely respond to a complaint is the entry of default and default judgement, which the Third Circuit has repeatedly held is disfavored when a case can be resolved on the merits.”
“However,” he wrote, “that does not excuse the fact that Defendants failed to adhere to a deadline set by this Court and only sought leave to obtain a new deadline after the original deadline had lapsed.”
On Thursday, Henderson noted that it was the attorney’s first time appearing before the court for such a reason before discharging the order and cautioning that orders by the court are orders, not suggestions.
Chapman was first hired to lead the public-private University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park in 2018. His contract was renewed for a three-year term in 2021. According to the initial lawsuit he filed in November, the RTPark’s board voted against renewing his contract a second time during a meeting last April.
He filed a whistleblower complaint against the RTPark — which was established in 2002 “to promote economic growth, development and diversification of the Virgin Islands and the broadening of the capabilities of the University of the Virgin Islands,” according to the V.I. Code — and its former board chair, Edward Thomas, in November, alleging statutory violations and retaliation. Chapman separately filed a discrimination lawsuit against the RTPark earlier this month, alleging that he was fired less than two months after he informed Thomas of a cancer diagnosis.
