Long Beach City College will soon have to contend with a wrongful termination lawsuit in open court brought by its former superintendent-president after failing to pay arbitration fees on time, a lawyer for the former executive says. The move could shed new light on a long-running employment dispute that, until now, had mostly remained behind closed doors.
Former Superintendent-President Reagan Romali filed a claim against the college in 2021 seeking $10 million in damages after she was fired in 2020. She alleges the termination was in retaliation for filing a whistleblower complaint against members of the LBCC Board of Trustees — which they have denied.
Romali’s contract, however, required any employment disputes to be resolved privately in proceedings overseen by the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, known as JAMS. According to her contract, Romali had to pay a fee to initiate the mediation and the college must pay all remaining costs, which have totaled more than $60,000.
The Long Beach Post obtained a recent notice sent to negotiators for the college and the arbiter in the case by Romali’s attorney, Louis Cohen, that includes records showing LBCC was more than 30 days late for various payments, and has a balance of $1,064.80 that is close to a year overdue.
Support watchdog journalism
Who has eyes on City Hall? We do. The Long Beach Post is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donate now to support independent accountability journalism that cuts through the political spin.
Cohen says in his filing that because of that, Romali now has the right to withdraw from arbitration and proceed with a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, which he said will be filed this week.
“We’re delighted that this matter will now be subject to public review,” he said in an interview Monday.
In the notice to JAMS, Cohen said Romali will also seek to recover attorney’s fees and other legal costs and will request judicial sanctions in the “abandoned arbitration proceeding.”
A spokesperson for LBCC said in a statement that as a matter of policy, the college does not comment on ongoing legal matters “to ensure the integrity of the process and respect for all parties involved.
“We remain committed to maintaining our high standards of education and support for our students, faculty, and staff,” the statement said. “Our focus continues to be on providing a safe and conducive learning environment for all members of our community.”
An attorney who had been handling this matter for the college could not be reached.
The Board of Trustees met late last month in closed session to discuss the Romali case but did not report taking any action.
Romali’s tenure with the college unraveled publicly in early 2020, but tensions had been simmering privately for at least two years prior to her termination.
A year after she was hired in 2017, Romali began keeping a ledger summarizing dozens of interactions she’d had with board and staff members, including allegations that officials violated public meeting laws and made sexist and racist remarks.
Many of the allegations, including the retaliation claims, were targeted at trustees Vivian Malauulu and Uduak Joe-Ntuk.
Romali subsequently sent a 1,000-page whistleblower complaint to law enforcement, but the specific allegations have not yet been made public.
Meanwhile, in the months leading up to the president’s termination, the Board of Trustees hired an investigator to look into Romali and a fellow trustee, Sunny Zia, who had come to the former president’s defense. The board in 2022 released a heavily-redacted version of the investigator’s findings, which formed the basis of a vote to censure Zia.
In the years since leaving LBCC, Romali has had a difficult time finding employment, Cohen said. She now works as the vice president of administrative services at Los Angeles Harbor College.