Question: When are substitute teachers going to receive the back pay they won more than a year ago?

Answer: More than 10 years after a class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of substitute teachers seeking back pay, the first paychecks are expected to be sent later this year, attorney Paul Alston, whose law firm represents the teachers, told us Wednesday.

Those checks will reflect $14 million or so that the state has agreed to pay approximately 9,000 substitute teachers this year. "We expect to have money in substitute teachers’ hands before year-end," Alston said.

The state has agreed to begin paying the $14 million in back pay, plus associated taxes and benefits (such as Social Security contributions), to the teachers this year, confirmed Anne Lopez, special assistant to the state attorney general.

Alston said the $14 million settlement is based on Circuit Court rulings late last year, by Judges Karl Sakamoto and Edwin Nacino, that favored the teachers not only on the base back pay owed, but also on about $9 million in interest payments and another $6 million in attorneys’ fees.

However, Lopez said, "The plaintiffs also claim that approximately $8.6 million in prejudgment interest has accrued on the back pay. Whether the state is responsible for paying such prejudgment interest is still in question."

She said the Intermediate Court of Appeals previously affirmed a Circuit Court decision that the state was not liable for prejudgment interest but that subsequently, a different Circuit Court, "under a different theory," determined that the state is responsible.

"The state is assessing whether it will appeal this ruling," she said Thursday.

"Because the resolution of the issue of prejudgment interest could take years to resolve, the state believed that the best solution was to enter into the partial settlement to ensure that upon the final approval of the settlement by the court and the appropriation of funds by the Legislature, the substitute teachers are paid their back wages," Lopez said.

Alston said in April that the teachers’ position was that the initial settlement should be paid first while other issues, such as interest, are tackled separately. See is.gd/aRA6lK.

Alston noted that the original suit was filed on behalf of teachers who were either substitutes or both substitutes and part-time workers. The $14 million settlement only resolves the claims of substitute teachers; the back-pay claims of part-time teachers are still pending.

The claims of part-time teachers (who number more than the 9,000), "by our best estimate, are something in excess of $30 million," plus interest and attorneys’ fees.

"These are claims where the court has ruled the state is liable, but the exact amount is being determined and appeals will follow," Alston said. "We are pretty confident about those numbers because we have now received all the state’s payroll records."

Ultimately, to cover back pay, plus interest and attorneys’ fees, for both substitute and part-time teachers, "we expect the state to be liable for something on the order of $80 million," he said.

Meanwhile, Alston’s firm so far has not received any payments in the long-standing case, which it assumed on a contingency basis.

The amount in attorney’s fees due is still undetermined, "but the statute would allow up to 25 percent of the state’s total liability, so it could be as much as $6 million," he said.

Mahalo

To the police officers and city-and-county crew who responded quickly after the tree in front of our house in Pearl Ridge fell and blocked the road during the heavy winds last month. The tree was moved out of the way and chipped down in less than two hours. Thanks also to our nice neighbors who brought out their chain saw and helped move some branches out of the way to make the road passable until the county came! — Russell and Binh Loo

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