An art dealer and an anthropologist have filed a complaint with the state Department of the Attorney General accusing Bishop Museum’s board of directors of breaching their fiduciary duties and squandering the museum’s charitable assets.
Caroline Yacoe, owner of Pacific Pathways and a specialist in Melanesian art, joined Roger Rose, an anthropologist, to file the complaint with the department’s Tax and Charities Division on Dec. 21.
Any member of the public wishing to call for an investigation of a nonprofit or charitable entity supported by public funds is free to file a complaint with the division. Whether the allegations made in a complaint warrant a formal probe by the division will be up to the department’s investigators.
The 14-page complaint, filed by the pair on behalf of “concerned citizens in the community,” calls for an investigation of the board after three museum executives were placed on paid administrative leave six months ago over alleged workplace concerns.
President and CEO Melanie Ide; Wesley “Kaiwi” Yoon, vice president of operations, planning and project management; and general counsel Barron Oda are prohibited from accessing their work email accounts and work records and products.
An independent investigator was contracted by the board to investigate allegations that Ide, Yoon and Oda created a toxic work environment.
By “overstepping its governance role to indefinitely manage a complex organization, this Board, through its interference and lack of understanding or concern for the full range of the Museum’s interests and activities, is negatively affecting the Museum’s reputation, programs, relationships, funding sources, resulting in a waste of the museum’s charitable assets,” reads the letter.
The complaint shares bullet points and borrows from the narrative authored by Ide in a 10-page letter she sent to the board on July 17.
Ide and her supporters believe the board’s actions are jeopardizing $17.3 million in state funding that was appropriated by state lawmakers for the coming fiscal year, and $10 million in recurring state funds that had been in discussion for 2024, as well as fundraising for a $5 million strategic initiative, membership, community donations, a partnership with Kamehameha Schools, as well as the loss of trust of the Waipio taro farmers and the Amy B.H. Greenwell Garden.
Nathan Chee, acting supervisor of the Tax and Charities Division, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a written statement Friday that the first time the division learned of the complaint was when a reporter asked for comment.
“As part of its mission, the Tax and Charities Division monitors charitable organizations, and that includes receiving complaints such as the one you shared with us. Our office had not yet received the complaint,” Chee said. “As a result, our review to determine whether investigation is necessary has just started. We take all complaints seriously and we appreciate the public bringing matters likes this to our attention.”
ACCORDING TO the board’s website, the members are Wayne M. Pitluck, chair; Ann Botticelli, first vice chair; Todd Apo, second vice chair; Valerie Shintaku, secretary; Danny K. Akaka Jr.; Maenette Benham; Lauran Bromley; Amanda Ellis; Elizabeth Rice Grossman; Ide; Patrick V. Kirch; Anton C. Krucky; Watters O. Martin Jr.; James Moniz; John Morgan; Lance Parker; William “Billy” K. Richards Jr.; Michael Takayama; and Gaylord Wilcox.
In a statement issued to the Star-Advertiser on Saturday, the Bishop Museum board of directors said it had not received official notice of the complaint and that the Star-Advertiser provided the directors with their initial copy of the complaint.
“The complaint is based upon inaccurate statements reported in the media and attributed to Museum CEO Melanie Ide, most notably that the Board of Directors has overstepped its governance role. The Museum’s bylaws clearly state that the Board has acted within its authority, and the Board is committed to prioritizing the health and safety of the staff who continue to drive the Museum forward every day,” read the statement, sent on behalf of the museum’s directors. “The independent investigator is finalizing a lengthy and detailed report for the Board. The process took longer than anticipated due to the emergence of substantive issues beyond what the Board was initially made aware of by management. The Board will be reviewing the report in order to determine how to proceed in the best interests of the Museum and its staff.”
THE INDEPENDENT investigator, Barbara A. Petrus, a 39-year veteran of labor and employment law, did not immediately reply to a Star- Advertiser request for comment.
“The Acting Management Committee put in place by the Board continues to provide very capable leadership during this period and has ensured that both short term and long term needs of the Museum are being addressed,” the board members wrote. “We very much appreciate the interest of the community in assuring the long-term stability of the Museum and supporting a healthy and safe work environment for the Museum’s dedicated staff.”
Yacoe also started an online petition on Change.org last week titled “Protect Bishop Museum: Ask the Attorney General to Investigate Board Negligence.” As of Tuesday, 32 people had signed on.
Bishop Museum, which welcomes about 200,000 visitors annually, is Hawaii’s top historical, cultural and research institution focused on Hawaii and other Pacific islands. It was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in honor of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family.
The museum is home to a large collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms, including millions of cultural objects, documents, artworks and photographs, as well as more than 22 million biological specimens.
AG complaint – Bishop Museum by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
