In 2010, the Marketing Director at ASTCA asked me to produce future telephone directories. Given past difficulties with receiving listings from ASTCA, I was hesitant. After multiple meetings and emails, I agreed—but only if ASTCA ensured timely and complete directory listings. They assured me that J.D. Hall, a new hire and the son of a long-term friend, Roy Hall, would handle this. When I met with J.D., he explained that his job involved improving ASTCA’s billing systems, including directory listings. His commitment to providing the listings convinced me to take on the project.

Since there had been no competitive bidding for years, I insisted on drafting a new contract to comply with procurement laws. In June, ASTCA’s legal counsel, Gwen Langkilde, agreed to handle it. However, I heard nothing until September when she instead sent an email to ASTCA executives proposing changes to the outdated 2001 contract—without sending me a copy of the email. The Marketing Manager shared her email with me, but I did not respond, realizing she was trying to bypass procurement rules.

In the meantime, I drafted a document proposing the content of a contract, sparking discussions that dragged on for many years. Gwen seemed resistant, particularly to my request for a count of listings, which she misrepresented as a demand for accuracy. She also opposed distributing a directory to each subscriber, arguing that ASTCA could not guarantee listing accuracy and would not commit to distribution.

A new employee at ASTCA, J.D. Hall, was responsible for providing the directory data. He struggled to deliver it in the proper format, so I provided instructions and examples. I initially believed he would improve, but I later discovered he was posting ASTCA listings on his personal website and selling ads to profit from them. After that, for at least three years, he sent me incomplete listings with repeated excuses and promises to correct them “soon.” This was clear evidence that he failed to provide the necessary data.

During this time, I repeatedly asked Gwen Langkilde and Alex Sene, two senior ASTCA officials, for help in ensuring Hall met his obligations. They ignored me, and ASTCA’s leadership showed no interest in completing the project.

In 2013, three years after signing the contract, ASTCA’s new CEO, Bill Emmsley, assigned Margaret Willis to assist Hall. Margaret, an expert in compiling listings, had worked with me for over a decade. Within days, she completed the two largest sections of the directory, but Hall never sent me her work.

After more than four years of trying to work with Hall and Gwen, I realized the situation was hopeless. I filed a formal breach-of-contract complaint against ASTCA, marking the beginning of an exhausting legal battle. I provided extensive documentation proving ASTCA’s failure to meet its obligations under the MOU. However, after eight years in court, the judge dismissed my evidence and simply ruled that the MOU was unenforceable.

I am now appealing the decision, but the process in American Samoa is difficult. The Appeals Court rules are only available on an outdated, unofficial website. When I asked about the court’s composition, I received conflicting answers—including an admission from the Clerk of Court that he didn’t know.

One key step in the appeal process is obtaining trial transcripts. I requested them and received only hard copies in faint grey print, making them difficult to scan or digitize.

Gwen’s misrepresentation of my request for a listing count persisted throughout the case. The court accepted her claim as fact in its ruling against me. From the start, I sensed bias. The judge, Kruse, barred Gwen from testifying in open court due to her current role as a judge and instead ordered a deposition. Discrimination continued throughout the trial.

On the second day, just before I could testify, Kruse suddenly announced that there would be no time to continue the trial the next day, leaving the timeline uncertain. Rather than argue, I instructed my attorney to ask one key question: Had I ever received listings for post-paid cell phone subscribers? My answer was no—proof that ASTCA had breached the contract.

Yet, Kruse ignored this and instead questioned whether the contract was even valid. In his final ruling, he declared it unenforceable—despite the fact that ASTCA’s legal team drafted it, the Executive Director signed it, I signed it, and it had been in effect since 2010 without any prior concerns about its validity.