Fired employee asks for more time

Attorney Milan Tesanovich filed the motion on behalf of former employee Mary Hemmings, a former cultural affairs assistant director, who alleges she was fired because of age and gender discrimination.

The motion in Arizona District Court asked Judge Alfredo Marquez for 30 days to respond to a Sept. 4 case dismissal request made by the Arizona State Attorney's General office.

Tesanovich's affidavit states his office did not receive a copy of the Sept. 4 motion and requests a copy from assistant Attorney General Kenneth Countryman, who represents the University of Arizona and the Arizona Board of Regents in the case.

However, court documents state Countryman already forwarded a copy of the dismissal motion.

According to court documents, the Sept. 4 dismissal motion was filed, because 369 days had elapsed since Hemmings' dismissal - beyond the 300-day time limit to file a civil discrimination suit.

Tesanovich did not return repeated phone calls yesterday.