A judge's decision Friday to reinstate Victor Valley College's former director of human resources could set the tone for future court cases against the college.

At least three related lawsuits against the college are pending, with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake.

Lois Kobz, the former director of human resources, also sued the college for discrimination. Two other administrators fired over the same incident as Kobz have also sued the college.

Kobz, former president Nicholas Halisky and his wife, Cathy Halisky, who was the former director of management information systems, were all fired last year over the alleged mishandling of a 1999 campus drug investigation.

Kobz's second case goes to trial in March, her Costa Mesa-based lawyer Eric Bathen said.

"Obviously the fact that she's been reinstated has a big impact on that case,' Bathen said.

Kobz claims that VVC did not accommodate her disability and fired her while she was on worker's compensation. Bathen wouldn't elaborate on what that disability is.

"I really can't go into that,' he said.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Robert Law awarded Kobz back pay, lawyer's fees and ordered the college to give her old job back to her. This will be finalized in writing in the next week or two, Bathen said.

VVC's Board of Trustees must vote on whether to appeal the Kobz decision, board President Dennis Henderson said.

"I really can't tell you, at this point, what we're going to do,' he said Monday morning.

The Haliskys have sued the college, Henderson and Larry Malmberg, a private investigator hired by the college, for violation of their civil rights, violation of education code, defamation, breach of contract and wrongful termination, their Ontario lawyer, Marc D. Roberts, said.

"We're obviously encouraged by the Kobz decision and not at all surprised,' Roberts said. "They were all fired in exactly the same way the result will be the same. We're going forward and we're going to win and it's going to be in the millions.'

The Haliskys' cases are still in the discovery phase. The lawsuits allege that Henderson fired Nicholas Halisky for personal reasons.

"That they would risk public education funds to pursue someone's personal grudge against someone else is pretty astonishing,' Roberts said.

Henderson has denied these claims.

The potential financial impact of these cases is increased by the school's choice of attorney. Lawyer Stanley Hodge, who has handled these cases for the college and is Henderson's personal attorney, is not on the list of lawyers approved by the school's insurance group. Hodge a lawyer since 1973 and former judge does not have enough experience handling education cases, according to standards set by the Statewide Association of Community Colleges, often called SWACC.

This means that the college may be liable for any damages in these cases. But the school would have to pay back wages on its own anyway.

"Generally SWACC coverage doesn't cover back wages regardless,' Sacramento-based lawyer Doug Alliston said.

Alliston specializes in community college district self-insured risk pools, including SWACC, to which VVC belongs. If the college has to pay other damages, the insurance likely won't cover what it normally would, he said.

"It's relatively uncommon for members to insist on use of someone who hasn't been approved by the claims committee,' Alliston said. "You lose a lot of the benefits you joined SWACC for.'