Kawananakoa’s former employees can stay in Pearl City home for now

They were facing eviction, but the former longtime employees of Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa won a victory in court Thursday that will allow them to stay in their Pearl City home — at least for now.

District Court Judge Michael Tanigawa ruled that the District Court lacks jurisdiction in the dispute.

Meanwhile, the former employees have filed a quiet title case in Circuit Court seeking ownership of the house.

Agents of Kawananakoa are seeking to evict Samantha Michel and Ashley Thairathom, along with their parents, Thongbay and Mark Smart, to reclaim the Hoohiki Street house.

Thongbay Smart worked for 32 years as a live-in maid and cook for Kawananakoa, while Mark Smart worked as her driver and gardener for 19 years. Their daughters, who were named in the “ejectment complaint,” worked for Kawananakoa as well.

In their quiet title suit, the Smarts claim Kawananakoa gave them their house as a gift in 2016 to prevent them from moving to the mainland.

Relying on Kawananakoa’s promise, the family spent about $25,000 remodeling the home, and Kawananakoa even showed up in Pearl City to congratulate them, according to the complaint.

The Smarts previously explained that they were being retaliated against for speaking candidly with a Probate Court-appointed psychiatrist and special master in the ongoing legal battle over Kawananakoa’s $215 million trust fund.