Wrongful Dismissal Alleged In
Former BCC Teacher's Lawsuit
A Brunswick Community College
business instructor whose employ
ment contract was not renewed has
filed a lawsuit against the coiiege
claiming she was wrongfully dis
missed and seeking a temporary re
straining order and preliminary and
permanent injunctions requiring the
college to reinstate her.
In an Aug. 23 letter, BCC Pres
ident W. Michael Reaves informed
business instructor Jane Page that
she would not be offered an employ
ment contract for the 1993-94 acad
emic year. The letter stated no rea
son for the action.
Page had been employed by the
college continuously since Sept. 1.
1987, and had been under contract
to work 40 hours a week for nine
months, her complaint states. Her
last contract, executed July I, cov
ered her employment from Sept. I.
1992. through May 31. 1993. at a
monthly salary of $2,474.
Her complaint charges that Page
was "unlawfully terminated" be
cause she had been told her contract
would be renewed and that her name
was listed ill college publications as
instructor for three courses being of
fered in the Fall 1993 quarter.
According to the complaint. Page
let college officials know she intend
ed to file a grievance action and was
told no such procedure was avail
able to her. It alleges that Page "re
ceived no prior oral warning, first
written warning, or final written
warning" of unsatisfactory perfor
mance under the college's personnel
policies.
It also claims Reaves made no
recommendation to the college's
board of trustees regarding Page's
dismissal, that she was not notified
of her appeal rights and that she was
"denied due process prior to her ter
mination."
"Prior to Aug. 23. 1993. the plain
tiff's performance evaluations had
been exemplary, and afforded no ba
sis for the defendant to dismiss her
in accordance with the mandatory
provisions of the Personnel Policy
for Brunswick Community Col
lege." the complaint states.
Page also "had not been subject to
any prior disciplinary procedures or
actions whatsoever," it adds, con
cluding. "There is absolutely no evi
dence justifying any just cause for
the plaintiff's dismissal."
She is seeking damages in excess
of S I O.(H)C) on the grounds that the
college's actions constitute a breach
of contract.
Page's attorney. Gary Shipman of
Wilmington, has asked for her mo
tion for an injunction to lie heard
Oct. 1 1 in Brunswick County Super
ior Court.
The Btucon did not receive a
copy of the complaint in time to
contact attorneys for either party for
comment.
Local Health Professionals Skeptical
About Plan's Possible Cost, Outcomes
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Medical Association, insurance
companies and pharmaceutical com
panies. "No plan will help unless
you get the big manufacturers out of
it," he said.
Referring to pharmaceuticals, he
said. "You can get drugs cheaper in
Canada because they sell them
cheaper to wholesale houses there. I
think Americans need to be protect
ed from these big manufacturers.
Fraud is a big factor, too."
The pharmacist has his own pro
posal for reducing health care costs
and red tape. "I like the way they do
it in China." he said. "They have
barefoot doctors for those who have
no money. The barefoot doctor takes
their temperature and gives them
some medicines, and if they don't
get better he sends them on up the
line." He acknowledged that phar
macists play barefoot doctor in
America to some extent, "because
people trust us."
Asked if Clinton's plan would af
fect his profession adversely, Tho
mas said, "It would tear the system
all to pieces tor pharmacists to suf
fer."
Insurance companies are a fre
quent butt of criticism when high
health care costs are discussed.
Anita Pope, agent for Calabash
Insurance, put the blame on the state
I 'el. "North Carolina is the hardest
state to pass anything when it comes
to health insurance," she said.
Pope declared small businesses
will go broke if they are farced to
offer some kind of medical plan to
their employees. "They already have
to pay Social Security taxes, federal
and state taxes, and some of them
workmen's compensation," she ex
plained. "This health care premium
would just add to it."
She admitted, however, "We
needed to put rate caps on a long
time arc, but doctors and hospitals
should be penalized, too."
A specialized field not clearly un
derstood by everyone is home health
care, and Kd Harris of Shallotte has
been explaining it for more than ten
years. Now he finds he must inform
President Clinton, as well. Harris
founded Comprehensive Home
Health Care, which he serves as
president/CEO. in 1981. The com
pany is now on the brink of nine
clinic locations around the state.
"Clinton balanced the Arkansas
budget partly by cutting home health
from Medicaid and Medicare ser
vices," he said. "He and Congress
both think it's a sitter service. We've
been trying to educate people in
Washington about what home health
really is."
His concern with the new plan is
how his business will be paid for
medical services in the home. "All
we know is that we'll get less," he
predicted. "We're subsidizing Medi
care now, and Clinton's talking
about funding the plan with
Medicare cuts. Also, we don't know
who'll be managing the patient if
home health goes or suffers."
Harris acknowledged he had al
ways had "a problem with govern
ment intervention," having left his
post as Brunswick County Health
Director in 1981 to set up his inde
pendent business. "I've traveled in
many other countries where the gov
ernment manages health care and
what they get is very bad medicine,"
he said.
Hospital bills are among the vil
lains in rampaging health care costs,
but Dosher Administrator Edgar
Haywood said his costs could be cut
in two if every "customer" paid
completely.
"If our room rates were apples we
were selling for 35 cents and every
one paid for their apple." he said,
"we could reduce charges for every
one by 50 percent tomorrow."
Haywood said he couldn't under
stand how the concept of managed
competition, part of Clinton's plan,
would work in rural America. "A
large number of hospitals are
grouped into big HMO's and their
services bid off," he said. "The pur
pose is to control costs, but how
does that work here in Brunswick
County where we just have two hos
pitals in such a large area?"
He described the present hospital
situation as a "Catch 22."
"Our costs are so astronomically
high, they've driven everyone
away," he noted, "and that's partly
because we consumers want the best
and don't want to wait for it. Now
we have these marvelous things we
can do, but we can't afford them."
Most local health care profession
als agreed on one thing: something
different had to be attempted. As
Susan Gibble put it, "Something
needs to happen; my fear is simply
that government thinks it can handle
it."
'93 South
Grads Given
TB Skin Test
The approximately 200 spring
graduates of South Brunswick High
School last week joined the list of
those receiving skin tests for tuber
culosis.
That brings the total number of
students, staff and faculty tested to
nearly 900. prompted by the diagno
sis of the TB virus this summer in a
1993 graduate of the school.
While it is unusual to test such a
large number of people at one time,
it is simply an effort to prevent a
possible local outbreak of TB, said
Rhodes.
Rhodes said readings of the skin
tests have not shown higher levels of
exposure to the virus than are found
in the general population. Nine stu
dents, or less than 1 percent of the
current students tested, were found
to have been exposed at some time
to the virus. As of Friday, no stu
dents had been found to actually
have TB.
Rabies Clinics Draw Huge Response
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Companion Animal Hospital in
Shallotte for their shots.
Receptionist Angie Bias said the
Companion staff stayed on duty un
til almost 5 p.m., although its clinic
had been scheduled from 9 a.m. un
til I p.m. Bias estimated 350 to 400
pets were inoculated, a majority of
them from the Ash area.
At Seaside Animal Hospital, Dr.
Ernest Ward was still catching up on
paperwork Monday, after vaccinat
ing more than 200 animals until he
ran out of vaccine.
Almost all the pet owners had
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questions about rabies, he added.
Ward said the greatest misconcep
tion about rabies is that dogs are at
greater risk than cats. "Cats are the
natural hunters, and they're also the
animals most likely to be allowed to
roam."
None of the sites reported any
problems with riled pets or humans,
despite long lines and mass confu
sion. "It was a miracle," Ward said.
"The Ivord was looking after us that
day."
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STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC CARLSON
New Head Of Building Inspections
Delaney Aycock wears a new hat these days as head of the
Brunswick County Building Inspections Department. A county
building inspector since January, 1989, with seven years' prior ex
perience in the building industry, Aycock was recently named head
of the department. He began his new supervisory duties Sept. 17
and will do double duty as a field inspector until someone is hired
to fill his old position.
Fall Weather
Is Expected
To Continue
The weather system that sent tem
peratures plunging into the 50s
Monday night across the South
Brunswick Islands may have finally
kicked off the cooler, fall season.
"It looks like we're getting into
typical fall weather for a change,"
Shallotte Point meteorologist Jack
son Canady said Tuesday morning,
when there was a definite nip in the
air.
Canady 's outlook for the next
week is for both temperatures and
rainfall to he near normal. Residents
can expects temperatures ranging
from 60 degrees at night to HO dur
ing the day with one-half inch of
rain.
For the period Sept. 21-27,
Canady said the daily average tem
perature was 79 degrees, which is
about 7 degrees above normal. He
measured .79 inches of rain during
the period.
The maximum high reading was
91 degrees on Sept. 24 and 26, while
the minimum low was 62 degrees on
the 23rd.
Canady said the daily average
high was 88 degrees and the average
nightly low was 70 degrees.
Calabash Again Postpones
Decision On Authority Vote
BY ERIC CARLSON
The Calabash Board of Com
missioners on Tuesday postponed a
decision on whether or not to cancel
a referendum that would activate the
joint water and sewer authority it
formed with Sunset Beach. The
board plans to hold off on the vote
until a committee reviews the feasi
bility of a new offer to purchase the
Carolina Blythe sewage system.
The board agreed instead to pay a
Wilmington engineering firm $3,200
to inspect the treatment plant and
evaluate its operation to help the
town determine if Carolina Blythe is
worth the $4.5 million asking price.
At its last meeting, the board ap
pointed commissioners Jon Sanborn
and Keith Hardee to a committee
charged with studying an offer made
by Carolina Blythe owner Billy
Burnett under which he would fi
nance the sewer system purchase at
a fixed interest rate of 5.25 percent
for 30 years.
Also at the earlier meeting
Sanborn and Hardee were autho
rized to hire accountants and engi
neers to help them weigh the pro
posed Carolina Blythe purchase
against an ongoing plan under which
Calabash and Sunset Beach would
build a joint sewer system financed
through state and federal grants and
"If the town buys
Carolina Blythe,
we won Y need a
referendum. "
? Jon Sanborn
loans repaid by user fees.
The engineering firm hired by the
two towns. Powell Associates of
North Myrtle Beach. S.C., currently
is shepherding their funding applica
tions through the approval process.
However, the firm was not asked to
advise Calabash on the offer to pur
chase Carolina Blythe, which is be
ing considered as an alternative to
the larger joint system.
"We need to get away from our
own engineers and anyone else who
might have a vested interest," San
born said Tuesday.
Instead, the commissioners unani
mously agreed to hire Joseph Hill
Associates of Wilmington to prepare
a report on Carolina Blythe's current
capabilities and physical condition.
The town's hired accountants also
have been directed to review the
cost and benefits of Burnett's pur
chase offer.
Sanborn Tuesday asked his fellow
commissioners to table considera
tion of the sewer authority referen
dum until the board receives the
findings of the studies. The town
had planned to allow voters to ap
prove its regional sewage system
plan before allowing its South
Brunswick Islands Water and Sewer
Authority to accept grants and loans
and begin construction of the sys
tem.
"If the town buys Carolina
Blythe. we won't need a referen
dum," he said.
Early in the planning for the joint
sewer system, the board agreed to
have a referendum after residents of
the Carolina Shores development
voiced opposition to the authority's
formation. Recently, Powell
Associates engineers advised the
town that the vote would no longer
be necessary since revised plans for
the system call for it to be funded
entirely by user fees with no finan
cial impact on Carolina Shores.
A resolution was drafted to cancel
the referendum, but the board has
repeatedly delayed action on the
proposal.
Sanborn said he expects to have a
report on the findings of his commit
tee prepared in time for the board's
next meeting Oct. 12.
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