NIC, Macomber ask judge to dismiss lawsuit

COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College and attorney Art Macomber have asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges fraud.

The civil suit, filed in December 2022 by Coeur d’Alene resident Mike Gridley, accuses Macomber and three trustees of fraud and of violating Idaho’s open meeting laws. The suit also alleges that Macomber and former interim president Greg South have received “unjust enrichment” as a result of their hiring.

“Some or all defendants herein engaged in fraudulent misrepresentations and/or actions outside of Idaho law breaching the fiduciary role of community college trustees, which has caused significant, additional expense to NIC and the taxpayers of Kootenai County,” the lawsuit argues.

Attorneys representing NIC and Macomber have filed motions to dismiss the case, asserting that Gridley — who filed the suit in his capacity as a Kootenai County taxpayer, current NIC student and Idaho attorney — does not have standing to pursue a claim and is not personally entitled to relief.

Judge Ross D. Pittman will hear arguments on the matter July 21.

Legal counsel for NIC asserted that Gridley hasn’t established the required elements of fraud because the defendants did not make the alleged misrepresentations cited in Gridley’s lawsuit to Gridley personally.

NIC further argued that Gridley’s case could have “disastrous policy implications.”

“If (Gridley’s) claim is permitted to stand, any dissatisfied taxpayer could sue any public official for any decision that the public official made with which the taxpayer disagrees based on an apparent fiduciary relationship,” said the motion filed by NIC’s legal counsel. “This slippery slope would result in absurd litigation and is not the type of relationship between the parties contemplated by a breach of fiduciary duty claim.”

Macomber asserts that he cannot be subject to a claim of unjust enrichment because Gridley did not personally pay the fees Macomber has collected during his time as NIC’s attorney.

“In this case, Gridley paid nothing to Macomber and did not himself confer any benefit that ‘equity’ requires to be returned to him,” said a memorandum filed by Macomber’s attorney. “Furthermore, Gridley’s purported recent enrollment at NIC does not resurrect his claim.”

Pittman is also expected to decide whether the case should be reassigned from magistrate court to district court.

While allegations related to open meeting law violations must go through the magistrate, the magistrate court has a jurisdictional threshold of $10,000. Gridley has asserted that potential damages for other matters included in the suit exceed that threshold and belong in district court.