Unwanted hugs from a judge, an infamous false missile alert and a mishap with a log splitter are among incidents for which the state is prepared to pay loss claims totaling $9.5 million this year.
Hawaii lawmakers are expected to give final approval today to pay 38 claims mainly tied to litigation over actions of state personnel or conditions of state property that caused or contributed to losses suffered by people.
The claims to be funded by taxpayers are laid out in House Bill 990, which is scheduled for final House and Senate votes today after legislative leaders agreed to a new draft of the bill with additional claims Friday.
This year’s $9.5 million cost is down from $18.1 million for 41 claims in 2024 and $25.7 million for 35 claims in 2023.
The two biggest cases this year involve settlements in traffic accident litigation.
In one the state agreed to pay $1.75 million to the widow of a motorcyclist who was killed on Hawaii island in 2022 after crashing into the vehicle of a public school teacher who was trying to make a U-turn on a divided highway on the way to delivering supplies for a school summer camp in a park.
The second-biggest claim to be paid is almost $1.1 million for the father of a man who died after being hit by two cars while trying to cross Farrington Highway in a crosswalk in Maili.
A lawsuit filed in 2021 alleged that the crosswalk presented a pedestrian hazard and was among 13 crosswalks at unsignalized intersections on the highway in West Oahu that a consultant to the state Department of Transportation in 2017 recommended for removal.
“Many of these crosswalks had between one to three prior crossing accidents and had very low pedestrian usage,” the Department of the Attorney General said in a description of the case presented to the Legislature.
The removal work, however, was integrated with road resurfacing, bus stop relocations and other work that involved lane closures and took place in two phases. The first phase began in 2018 and was still underway when the fatal accident occurred in 2019.
Most appropriations in HB 990 are for legal settlements. Four claims involve court judgments. There are also 10 miscellaneous claims amounting to $1 million for replacing outdated, lost or misplaced state checks issued to people and companies.
Judgments include a case brought by a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia who filed a federal lawsuit in 2024 after the Honolulu Police Department denied the man a permit to acquire a gun. The plaintiff, Billy Peter, contended that state law governing firearms violated parts of the U.S. Constitution, including its equal protection clause. Peter was awarded $28,500 in a stipulated judgment.
Another judgement, for $512,701, involves an unidentified “John Roe” plaintiff who claimed in a 2019 state lawsuit that the state Department of Human Services decades ago negligently placed him in the custody of a foster parent who was already caring for several troubled teenage boys. A judge found that the plaintiff was sexually abused while in the foster home and that DHS was grossly negligent in placing the plaintiff in the home and did not properly monitor him through regular visits.
Like the John Roe case, some payments for claims against the state involve incidents that happened many years ago.
For instance, a pending $400,000 payment deals with a 2016 lawsuit filed by Royal Contracting Co. against the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands over allegations that DHHL did not clearly state the amount of coral fill needed to grade a homestead subdivision project in Kapolei. The case was settled after multiple rounds of mediation over several years.
In another case from years ago, a man claimed that he suffered a heart attack that required surgery and hospitalization after receiving a false ballistic missile attack warning sent to the general public via text by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency on Jan. 13, 2018. This case was settled for $275,000.
The oldest incident tied to HB 990 goes back roughly 50 years. In this case two plaintiffs agreed to receive $330,000 to settle claims from a 2020 lawsuit over alleged sexual abuse by a security guard who supervised on- and off-campus programs at Highlands Intermediate School in the mid-1970s.
More recent and higher-profile claims set to be paid this year include a $750,000 settlement over then-Deputy Sheriff Gregory Bergman fatally shooting Delmar Espejo on state Capitol grounds in 2019 during an altercation sparked by Espejo refusing to pour out a container of vodka. Espejo’s relatives sued the state in 2021.
Another well-publicized case was brought by former Stevenson Middle School Principal Katherine Balatico, who settled a 2022 federal lawsuit over claims that state Department of Education officials failed to adequately protect her amid anonymous violent threats and sexual harassment from May 2020 through January 2021 while she was principal, and retaliated against her for questioning the department’s response.
According to a memo for lawmakers, DOE, HPD and the FBI investigated the threats to no avail while DOE implemented a safety plan for Balatico that included private security at her home and at school, installing more security cameras on campus and locking administration building access. The memo also said DOE later terminated the safety plan and began recruiting to fill Balatico’s position while Balatico was on worker’s compensation leave in 2022. This case was settled for $150,000.
Another lawsuit that received some media coverage and is part of HB 990 appropriations involves a former judicial assistant to Chief Judge Randal G.B. Valenciano of 5th Circuit Court on Kauai. Plaintiff Leanne Rosa filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 accusing the judge of unwanted “hugs” in 2015 and during 2018 through 2023, according to the state Department of the Attorney General. Valenciano denied the allegations. A $90,000 settlement was reached.
State attorneys also agreed to settle several cases where people fell on public property, including someone who fell off an unlit pier on Molokai’s Kalaupapa Peninsula in 2018 and a hiker who fell onto a piece of rebar protruding from the ground in Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai in 2021.
In another serious mishap, a Castle High School student had his left pinkie finger severed in a pinch point on a mechanical log splitter being set up for use in the school’s annual Thanksgiving imu fundraiser in 2021.
Settlements in these three cases are for $50,000, $450,000 and $75,000, respectively.
