Rejection of restraining order request frees HSTA to hold revote

The Hawaii State Teachers Association is moving ahead with a second election of union officers scheduled for Tuesday, after a state judge on Friday denied a request to halt the election.

Campbell High School teacher Corey Rosenlee, who contends he was elected president of the 13,500-member teachers union, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Circuit Court that seeks to get HSTA to accept the results of the original election and effectively install him as president. He also filed a request for a temporary restraining order to block a new election.

Circuit Court Judge Gary Chang denied the restraining order.

“What this means is the election goes forward. The court, in my opinion, correctly questioned the fundamental issue of jurisdiction,” attorney Colleen Hanabusa, who is representing HSTA President Wil Okabe and Executive Director Wilbert Holck in the case, said in an interview.

“The argument in front of the court whenever you do a temporary restraining order is you’ve got to show: one, the likelihood of success; two, the irreparable injury; and, third, the public interest.” Rosenlee’s attorneys released a statement saying they were disappointed with the decision but hopeful that the court will take up the merits of the underlying lawsuit, which argues that the HSTA board’s decision to reject the election results and call for a new election violated union bylaws and members’ collective bargaining rights.

“The court’s decision did not decide whether the prior election of HSTA officers and representatives was valid or involved any impropriety,” Rosenlee’s attorneys said. “The court’s decision instead was based solely on the court finding that the court might not have jurisdiction to decide the case.”

Okabe said the union is prepar-ing for Tuesday’s election,

which will require teachers to cast physical ballots at polling stations statewide. (A list of voting sites and times is posted online at 808ne.ws/1d4YIyd.)

“This allows HSTA to continue to move forward with the revote on June 2 and ensure a fair election process that will allow all of our members an opportunity to vote,” Okabe said in a statement.

HSTA’s board of directors voted May 16 to reject the results of ballots cast for a new union president and other officers and called for a new election. HSTA officials had cited voting irregularities and discrepancies for the decision, including reports that some teachers did not receive their ballots.

Teachers voted electronically and by mail for two weeks in April for all races, and again earlier this month by mail for a runoff election for vice president.

Rosenlee says he and his running mates — King Kamehameha III Elementary teacher Justin Hughey and Mililani High teacher Amy Perruso, who ran for vice president and secretarytreasurer, respectively — won their races “by significant margins.”

Rosenlee had challenged current HSTA Vice President Joan Lewis; Hughey ran against current HSTA Secretary-treasurer Colleen Pasco; and Perruso ran against Osa Tui Jr., registrar at McKinley High.

Rosenlee’s lawsuit says the board decided to reject the results “only after a majority of the board learned that (Rosenlee) had been elected and their preferred slate of candidates had been defeated” — a claim union officials have denied.

“Since no further court assistance is going to happen before Tuesday’s revote, it is critical that all of HSTA’s members vote this coming Tuesday,” Rosenlee said in a statement Friday. “Teachers need to make their voices heard.”

Hanabusa said her clients have 20 days to respond to the underlying lawsuit, noting that the defendants have an option to request dismissal of the case.

“The judge had grave issues with jurisdiction over this matter,” Hanabusa said. “Because this is a labor organization, I personally believe the allegations made by the plaintiff are more properly before the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, and there’s an internal grievance process that has to be exhausted.”