$4.7M settlement near for officers in bias case

City Council members are poised to approve a $4.7 million settlement next week of two federal lawsuits by three current and former Honolulu Police Department officers who alleged that they were discriminated against and then subjected to a cover-up by HPD brass.

Council members, meeting as the Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee last week, voted 7-0 to tentatively approve the settlement. Two Council members were excused from the meeting. The full Council is scheduled to take a final vote Wednesday.

Last month the Council voted to approve $250,000 in additional legal fees paid to three law firms representing various defendants in the case. In all, the Council has approved $775,000 in legal fees to the three firms.

The original federal lawsuit was brought in 2010 by Sgt. Shermon Dowkin and former officers Federico Delgadillo Jr. and Cassandra Bennett-Bagorio. Dowkin and Delgadillo, who are African-American and Mexican-American, respectively, alleged racial discrimination. Bennett-Bagorio alleged sexual discrimination.

The three alleged that their lives were placed in danger because supervisors ordered colleagues not to provide them backup during solo, nighttime traffic stops.

In a second lawsuit filed in 2013, the officers’ attorneys alleged a cover-up by HPD brass and others. It was dismissed but is under appeal.

Nearly two dozen officers and HPD employees are named in the two lawsuits. Among them are Chief Louis Kealoha and retired Chief Boisse Correa. The second lawsuit adds the Department of Corporation Counsel and the Equal Opportunity Office.

City Corporation Counsel Donna Leong, in a statement, said the plaintiffs have agreed to drop all claims and that there is no admission of liability by the city.

HPD Assistant Chief Marie McCauley said in a statement that the allegations do not reflect the department’s values.

“Our officers come from all backgrounds and are as diverse as the community that we serve,” she said. “Discrimination of any form is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Victor Bakke, an attorney for the three, confirmed that in February a tentative settlement had been reached pending approval by the Council. He declined further comment, citing confidentiality conditions imposed by the court.