A top Hawai‘i Tourism Authority official and former state legislator was placed on leave Friday at the direction of the state Department of the Attorney General and the Department of Human Resources amid allegations he made racist and sexist remarks on the job.
Interim HTA President and CEO Caroline Anderson said in a statement Friday that she had placed Isaac Choy, vice president of finance and acting chief administrative officer, on leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
“We remain committed to ensuring the well-being of our dedicated staff and maintaining a safe, respectful, and transparent workplace,” Anderson said. “HTA will stay focused on our important work of uplifting Hawaii’s communities and supporting our visitor industry.”
State Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach), HTA contractors, former HTA employees and some board members alleged in a Honolulu Star-Advertiser story Sunday that HTA and the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism failed to respond promptly to complaints about a hostile work environment — including alleged racist and sexist comments — that they claim contributed to the recent resignations of five Native Hawaiian members of HTA’s leadership team.
Choy, a former state tax director and lawmaker who was elected to five terms in the House of Representatives serving the Manoa district from 2008 through 2018, joined HTA in 2023. On Monday he vehemently denied the allegations, calling them false and retaliatory.
For more than a year, Choy said, he has worked with staff, the Department of the Attorney General, other public bodies and the Legislature to report and resolve violations or suspected violations of law, rules, regulations and contracts executed by HTA.
“To protect against retaliation, the Attorney General’s Office has acknowledged my staff and me as whistleblowers,” he said. “It is unfortunate that the recent allegations appear to be in retaliation for the work done by me and the staff of the HTA Finance-Procurement Section.”
When queried about the attorney general’s involvement or Choy’s designation as a “whistleblower,” Toni Schwartz, spokesperson for the Department of the Attorney General, said in an email Monday the department “will not make statements on the existence or status of possible pending investigations.”
Fevella held a sign-waving demonstration and news conference Monday at the state Capitol, where he called on Gov. Josh Green to seek resignations from Choy and DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka, who Fevella alleged had participated in “efforts to sweep this matter under the rug.”
Fevella said Monday’s action was a follow-up to a request he made May 1 to state Attorney General Anne E. Lopez to investigate complaints that Choy allegedly had referred to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, an HTA contractor, as “dumb Hawaiians” and also was alleged to have “demeaned and belittled” female HTA board members.
In a written request sent to Lopez, Fevella said he was recently informed that female board members had submitted complaints to her office regarding Choy.
“If Mr. Choy’s behavior, including his tone, demeaning manner, and communication style, has made female board members feel belittled and has created a hostile work environment, a thorough investigation must be conducted,” he said.
While Choy has denied all allegations against him, Tokioka told the Star- Advertiser in an email that in 2024 he had issued Choy a written warning for using derogatory language.
The incident stemmed from a complaint made by Tyler Gomes, administrator of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s Kilohana efforts, who alleged that Choy called Gomes and the rest of the CNHA team “dumb Hawaiians” during an August 2023 meeting and afterward embarked on a pattern of behavior that was “race-based in its inequity.”
Tokioka said he was present at the meeting and that immediately following the incident, he “told Mr. Choy that his comments were unacceptable and that he should not use language like that in the future.”
He added that Choy sent an apology to staff after the written warning, and the incident was considered resolved.
