U.S. District Court Judge Alan Kay has rejected a second attempt by former Kaua‘i Police Chief George Freitas to dismiss a lawsuit his former secretary filed against him. Jacqueline Tokashiki claimed conditions under which she was removed from her job
U.S. District Court Judge Alan Kay has rejected a second attempt by former Kaua‘i Police Chief George Freitas to dismiss a lawsuit his former secretary filed against him.
Jacqueline Tokashiki claimed conditions under which she was removed from her job with the Kaua‘i Police Department by Freitas violated her constitutional rights of free speech and due process.
Tokashiki is seeking no less than $250,000 in damages from Freitas, and no less than $250,000 in damages from the County of Kaua‘i.
In an April 29 decision, Kay denied Freitas’ request for a reconsideration of a denial of a summary judgment to have Tokashiki’s lawsuit dismissed. The judge also ruled that his latest decision cannot be appealed to a higher court.
The two-prong decision was a minor victory for Tokashiki, who worked for KPD for about 20 years before she lost her job. “We are very happy about this,” said Tokashiki, who is represented by Clayton C. Ikei, a Honolulu attorney .
The judge said comments Tokashiki made on three matters related to the lawsuit involved public concern and were “protected.” “The court felt that those three issues of public concern triggered the protection of the First Amendment rights,” Ikei said.
One matter related to discussions Freitas had with Tokashiki about his living arrangements with his fiancee. Those discussions raised “concerns about the public’s perception of both defendant Freitas, and in turn, the KPD,” Kay wrote.
He said the conversation relates “to a matter of political, social and or other concern to the community,” and plays a part in “the public’s evaluation of the KPD’s performance.”
The second matter dealt with Freitas allegedly failing to follow a directive by the Kaua‘i Police Commission when he was placed on leave with pay in August 2001.
Freitas was put on temporary suspension while being investigated in connection with complaints filed against him by two now-retired, high-ranking officers, Mel Morris, who headed KPD’s Investigative Services Bureau, and Lt. Alvin Seto.
Their complaints alleged partly that Freitas was unprofessional in his dealings with them, and that Freitas drove his companion in a police vehicle while not on police business.
Kay noted Freitas failed to address one of the most “significant instances of speech involving the matter of public concern found by him – that of an Aug. 27, 2001 memorandum letter by Tokashiki and other reports of the former chief’s alleged misconduct.”
In that memorandum, Tokashiki said she had heard that Freitas refused to follow a directive from the Kaua‘i Police Commission to surrender his gun, badge and identification card.
The court ruling goes on to say Freitas told Tokashiki he knew she had been calling the County Attorney’s Office a lot, “crying harassment” when he called the office or came to the office while he was on leave.
The court document noted Freitas allegedly said during a deposition session in the case that one of the reasons he transferred Tokashiki out of his office was because of the alleged statements she made to county attorneys.
Tokashiki said she had reported Freitas’ alleged comings and goings to his office to Kaua‘i Police Commission chairwoman Dede Wilhelm and then-acting Chief William Ihu, as she had been instructed.
Kay also noted court documents that said Tokashiki and other KPD employees fretted over their safety partly because Freitas kept a loaded gun in an unlocked drawer in an unlocked office.
The situation created what Tokashiki characterized as “a potentially volatile work environment.”
The unstable work environment would not have materialized had Freitas complied with the Kaua‘i Police Commission’s instructions to turn in his weapon, Tokashiki said.
Tokashiki said in the Aug. 27, 2001 letter that she had asked the Kaua‘i Police Commission to request a temporary restraining order be issued against Freitas.
The third key matter Kay ruled on dealt with a letter Tokashiki had sent in response to an article on KPD that appeared in the January 2002 edition of Honolulu magazine. Tokashiki’s letter appeared in the same issue.
The court ruling noted that the article portrayed KPD as a department beset by sex scandals, and noted that Freitas was under scrutiny for allegedly interfering in the investigation of a police officer facing 20 charges stemming from an alleged ongoing sexual relationship with a girl under the age of 14.
Tokashiki said she wrote the letter to defend the reputation of KPD, and noted that the department had many dedicated employees.
Judge Kay said “her letter to Honolulu magazine addressed matters relevant to the public’s evaluation of the KPD, defendant Freitas and then-Mayor (Maryanne) Kusaka and therefore merits the highest degree of First Amendment protection.”
In his ruling, Kay noted as well that contrary to claims raised by Freitas, the former police chief didn’t have “qualified immunity” when he took action against his former secretary. That status is constitutionally granted to all public officials in the United States.
Kay said he could not consider Freitas’ motion for reconsideration because the former police chief submitted new evidence too late and because Freitas didn’t explain why evidence was provided after an initial hearing.
Kay also said he had received the new evidence, which was not specified, but wondered whether or not Freitas could have provided the evidence during the hearing.
Kay said reconsideration of earlier court orders are dependent on changes in law, new evidence and the need to correct “clear error or prevent manifest injustice.”
Kay wrote that mere disagreement with the earlier denial of a summary judgment request by Freitas’ attorney was insufficient grounds to grant the motion for reconsideration.
In his motion for reconsideration, Freitas said that the court’s analysis was flawed, and that the judge erroneously determined that Tokashiki’s comments were protected.
Freitas did win a concession in his latest bid to have Tokashiki’s case thrown out.
Kay ruled discussions Tokashiki had with John Ko, who was hired by the Kaua‘i Police Commission to investigate complaints filed by Morris and Seto, were not of public concern.
Ko is an investigator with the Honolulu Police Department.
John Komeiji, an O‘ahu attorney representing Freitas, was not immediately available for comment on Friday afternoon.
A jury-trial has been scheduled in U.S. District Court on O‘ahu on January 11, 2005.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
