LIHUE — A civil lawsuit has been filed in a Virginia federal court against the developers and architect rebuilding the Coco Palms Hotel in Wailua, citing alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act, desecration of graves and the prevention of religious freedom.
The suit was filed in late March by Virginia resident Ruthann Caudill, president of the Jacob Broom Society. It seeks monetary damages against the defendants in the amount of $3.5 million.
According to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by TGI, the basis of the suit is activity that started on March 16 at the Coco Palms site.
The suit cites alleged desecration of graves, prevention of the kanaka maoli to freely practice their religion, and a violation of the ESA by disruption of endangered waterbird habitat and possible death of endangered Koloa ducks.
Caudill declined to comment for this story.
Legal representation for the three individuals targeted in the lawsuit, though, say it won’t hold water in court because it wasn’t filed against the development company Coco Palms LLC.
“Though that may have been her intent, she sued my clients Tyler Greene, Chad Waters and Ron Agor individually, which, of course, is a violation of basic corporate law,” said Pierce Murphy, associate attorney at Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin and White, based in Baltimore, Maryland.
The lawsuit has no underlying claims, no merit and doesn’t belong in the court where Caudill filed, Murphy said.
“She claims a right to sue my clients under, among other things, the 19th century treaty between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States, which is about as realistic as if I were to sue you for violating the Treaty of Versailles,” Murphy said.
He filed a motion to dismiss Caudill’s suit because Hawaiian courts have already repeatedly ruled in favor of Coco Palms Hui LLC, and because Caudill lives in northern Virginia, in a suburb of Washington, D.C.
“I’m confident that the federal court in Virginia will recognize that Hawaii and its courts and government institutions are fully capable of managing Hawaiian affairs, that Ms. Caudill has no meaningful role in the same, and that her lawsuit must be dismissed,” Murphy said.
Murphy is defending two other clients in cases filed by Caudill in federal court, he said, in addition
to defending Waters, Greene and Agor.
On Thursday, the ongoing quiet title case between Coco Palms Hui LLC and Noa Mau-Espirito and Kamu “Charles” Hepa came to an end when Chief Judge Randall Valenciano granted a motion to dismiss that came from Mau-Espirito.
During the quiet title proceedings, Mau-Espirito said he and his group are planning on filing a lawsuit against the development company in federal court and told Valenciano he erred in proceeding with their fight over a parcel of land in Wailua, citing Caudill’s federal lawsuit.
Mau-Espirito and Hepa could not be reached for comment.
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Bethany Freudenthal, courts, crime and county reporter, can be reached at 652-7891 or bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com.
