Former Nic Instructor Settles With College

A former North Idaho College instructor who said she was unjustly suspended from work has reached a settlement with the college.

Sharon Smith, who had taught at NIC for a decade, will receive $55,000 plus pay and benefits from the time she was suspended, March 1997, until early this year, said her lawyer, Jerry Cartwright.

Smith, who worked at NIC’s Learning Center, had been willing to take her case to trial but became ill recently and decided to accept a settlement, Cartwright said.

She had been suspended, according to a letter from then-NIC President Robert Bennett, for inconsistent grading, advising students who didn’t need extra help to take remedial classes, and “other conduct as may be determined by the investigation.”

Some said the suspension was connected to Smith’s complaints about illnesses she linked with chemicals used in NIC’s Hedlund Vocational Building, where she worked.

NIC President Michael Burke said the details of the settlement prevent him from talking about Smith’s case.