The fugitive former attorney general of the Northern Marianas, Edward Buckingham, has been served with a summons and complaint filed by the former assistant attorney general at his residence in the US state of Colorado.
James Taylor says he was fired after he advised against the approval of government sole-source contracts that Mr Buckingham later approved.
He also alleges that he was let go because of his age.
He is seeking financial redress because he says Mr Buckingham dismissed him in 2011 without following proper procedures.
Mr Taylor's lawyer, Robert Torres, says a Colorado-based process server delivered the summons and complaint to Buckingham's residence in Lakewood, Colorado and it was received by his wife.
