Hawaii to pay more than $1.7M to settle lawsuits

Claims stemming from a deadly crash on a Likelike Highway onramp and injuries to a female inmate who wasn’t wearing a seat belt while being transported from a court hearing are among the cases that could cost Hawaii taxpayers more than $1.7 million in legal settlements this year.

The annual claims against the state would appropriate money for the settlements — 26 this legislative session — under Senate Bill 1039 and its com­panion House Bill 885.

The largest settlement, for $995,000, involved the death of Nickolaus Siu, who was driving his motorcycle on the Likelike Highway onramp heading toward H-3 before he crashed on July 14, 2014.

Siu’s father, Darrell, his sister, Victoria, and Siu’s friend Arron Baik sued in 2016, claiming there were no warning signs on what’s described as a “hairpin turn.”

The plaintiff, Baik, was riding behind Siu at the time of the crash. Siu lost control of his motorcycle, causing Baik to brake and crash as well, according the state Department of Attorney General’s description of the case.

At a Feb. 16 hearing, Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads (D, Downtown-Nuuanu- Liliha) asked state Deputy Attorney General Caron Ina­gaki whether the Department of Transportation took initiative to prevent future crashes by adding signage and fixing the roads.

Inagaki said the DOT placed signs prior to the turn, but she said there was nothing done about the roads.

The settlement will be paid from the DOT funds if the measure becomes law.

There was confusion over the appropriation of a $75,000 settlement for Pamela Miller-Potter, who tripped and fell over a bench in the dark at Waimea Middle School Public Conversion Charter School. The fall caused injury to her face, teeth and left knee, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The claims asked whether the state could pay the Charter School Commission’s settlement from the state’s general funds.

At the Feb. 16 hearing, Rhoads said he’s not willing to pay it from the state’s general funds.

“The policy of the Legislature for the last several years has been, your department, you pay for it, right?”

The claims were previously approved by Act 11 in 2019. However, the Charter School Commission couldn’t afford to pay it, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

School Principal Janice English declined to comment on the settlement, but she said the facilities were fixed after the incident.

A $100,000 settlement involved injuries to an inmate at the Women’s Community Correctional Center.

In 2017, Alpha Iuli was being transported in a van from a criminal hearing at the 1st Circuit Court back to WCCC. While in traffic on Pali Highway heading to Kailua, the van abruptly stopped. Iuli, who was handcuffed and not seat-belted, flew forward, hitting her hand and head, according to the Attorney General’s Office. She had a fractured finger and jaw, a hematoma on her head and neck pain.

An $8,250 settlement involved the Board of Education allegedly violating Hawaii’s Sunshine Law, which governs open meetings. The plaintiff, Sunny Rainbows Kim Unga, a parent of two Kahuku Elementary School children, submitted a petition to the BOE in January 2020 proposing a new rule to its department to accept public input regarding the Kahuku wind turbines.

Nearly a month after Unga’s proposed petition, the board convened to vote on it, but it was held in a “secret meeting,” according to Maui attorney Lance Collins. The board denied the petition, and Unga wasn’t made aware of the decision until she emailed the board.

“We had a couple of court hearings, and it was pretty clear that the judge was like, ‘You got a loser here, you should settle,’” Collins said.

The settlement will be paid from the state’s general funds.