A psychiatric technician told a state Senate investigative panel Tuesday that his supervisor threatened to fire him after he made public comments about unsafe working conditions at the Hawaii State Hospital, but the supervisor said the employee "got mixed up."
The employee, Ryan Oyama, also said his supervisor left him four voicemails after he filed the November complaint.
The nurse supervisor, Candace Sullivan, told the panel she tried to call Oyama after he filed the complaint because they had worked together for about a decade and always communicated well.
"We’ve always been very open to each other," Sullivan said. "I thought I knew him better than any other psych technician at the hospital."
The testimony came as part of an investigation into mismanagement and assaults on staff at the Kaneohe mental hospital.
Co-chairman Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua) said Sullivan’s testimony raised concerns.
"It’s unfortunate that the panel heard from a nurse supervisor who, as far as I’m concerned, perjured herself," Hee said.
Sullivan initially said Oyama was the only employee to file a complaint against her. But when Hee asked about a complaint by another employee, Sullivan said she considered it linked to Oyama’s complaint.
"I apologize," she said. "I don’t look at this committee as a real courthouse, and so therefore I forgot I was under oath."
Hee also complained about an "evasiveness" among hospital supervisors who responded with lengthy answers to yes-no questions.
He said some problems at the hospital appear to be a lack of protocol and a culture that allows supervisors to intimidate employees.
"It’s now clear to me why employees have not filed complaints against the state, because of this kind of culture of fear," he said.
Oyama said he spoke with Sullivan in October about an interview he had done with Hawaii News Now about working conditions at the hospital. He said Sullivan told him she could fabricate a sexual harassment case against him and "have you out of here in just one day."
Sullivan, a nurse supervisor since 1988, denied making the comment and said Oyama must have been confused because she was speaking about a sexual harassment case in the same conversation.
Hee said the panel will create a draft of the investigation in about two weeks, with a final report to be adopted by the full Senate in the third week of October. The final report will include recommendations, which the Legislature can act on next year.
