Judge agrees with jury on $13.1M verdict for former Texas Southmost College president Lily Tercero

The final judgment is in: former Texas Southmost College president Lily Tercero's $13.1 million jury verdict stands.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez issued his final ruling on Feb. 11 awarding Tercero $13,147,878.66, along with $117,685.67 in attorney fees. TSC can appeal his ruling, though if the college does, the jury award will collect interest.

After a four-day jury trial, the federal jury awarded Tercero on Nov. 8 $674,878.66 for lost earnings from her breach-of-contract claim and $12.5 million for diminished earning capacity and mental anguish.

The litigation began in Nov. 2016 after TSC fired her in September of 2016 for deliberately and recklessly failing to obtain windstorm insurance with board approval and in compliance with state law; for allowing TSC checks to be stamped with signatures of people who were no longer trustees; for failing to timely search and fill the position of vice president for finance and administration; for failing to inform the board of the ailing nursing program and its pending suspension; for refusing a board member's request that he personally sign and review checks in the amount of $10,000 or more and for not complying with a request for information sought by another member.

Read more: https://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/judge-agrees-with-jury-in-tercero-million-verdict/article_4a9318e8-314b-11e9-a29d-77beef0a19b5.html