LIHU‘E — County officials this week repeatedly refused to answer questions about Dexter Shimatsu, 62, of ‘Ele‘ele, the former county Department of Liquor Control supervisor who allegedly sent harassing e-mails to a co-worker using his employee account. Citing state law
LIHU‘E — County officials this week repeatedly refused to answer questions about Dexter Shimatsu, 62, of ‘Ele‘ele, the former county Department of Liquor Control supervisor who allegedly sent harassing e-mails to a co-worker using his employee account.
Citing state law regarding employee privacy, county spokeswoman Mary Daubert would only say the male employee who allegedly harassed Kristan (Hirakawa) Suniga “is no longer working for the county.” She did not name Shimatsu, who has not been charged with any crime.
Daubert declined to answer questions about whether Shimatsu was allowed to retire with full benefits, or if he was disciplined for the alleged actions that led to the county settling state and federal lawsuits filed by Suniga.
The lawsuits were dropped when the county agreed to settle the case out of court, agreeing to pay Suniga $450,000.
Reached at his ‘Ele‘ele home Wednesday afternoon, Shimatsu said he was not disciplined, and with 30 years of county service began planning his retirement a few years before actually retiring.
In both the federal and state cases, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found Suniga had been subject to harsh treatment because she was female and issued her a right to sue, which she exercised, court records show.
Daubert declined to answer questions about whether county officials plan to pursue reimbursement of all or part of the settlement amount from Shimatsu, which is allowable under the county’s Internet and e-mail policy that employees must sign to acknowledge they understand and will abide.
Beth Tokioka, executive assistant to Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., said county officials were unaware the harassment was taking place until Suniga filed her complaint.
The Garden Island asked her how county leaders could be unaware of a supervisor in the county Department of Liquor Control who was allegedly sending harassing e-mails on county time and with county equipment to a co-worker in the same office?
Tokioka said there is no single employee assigned to monitor thousands of e-mails sent daily by county employees, or websites county employees may visit, and that Shimatsu’s e-mails to Suniga did not trigger any red flags or filtering-software mechanisms.
Shimatsu said he retired and was not disciplined in any manner.
County policy indicates a person should be held financially responsible for any monetary damages caused by inappropriate use of electronic mail.
“On any given day, the 700 county employees who have e-mail access send and receive thousands of e-mails,” said Tokioka.
“We do not have someone assigned to monitor each and every one of those e-mails. However, as stated earlier, we do track trends and unusual Internet usage, and have software that alerts IT staff if, for example, an employee is visiting a pornographic website,” she said in an e-mail.
“In the specific case you are referring to, the e-mails in question did not trigger our filtering mechanisms. In many cases, we must rely on an employee reporting such e-mails and for supervisors to take immediate and appropriate action,” said Tokioka.
“IT staff members have been tasked with monitoring usage trends and identifying employees who may be utilizing non-work-related sites. This information is shared with our IT Steering Committee for action and follow up as necessary with individual employees,” Tokioka said.
As with most large companies, the county has an Internet and e-mail policy, first put into place in 2001 when Maryanne Kusaka was mayor and re-circulated under the late Mayor Bryan Baptiste, said Tokioka.
All county employees with electronic access are made to sign an acknowledgment page saying they understand and will abide by the policy.
The acknowledgment page also states “The County will not be liable for any of your actions that violate the terms of the Policy. If your violations result in damage to the County, including but not limited to claims or suits against the County, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the County, and shall pay for all damages and reimburse the County any and all fees and costs it may incur.”
The alleged harassment involved employees who both had kauai.gov e-mail addresses, said Tokioka.
“There is a draft update to the policy that has not yet been finalized and issued to departments that deals with issues unforeseen in the earlier policy (such as Federal Labor Standards Act issues, e-mail purging, etc.). We are expecting to issue that update before the end of this calendar year,” Tokioka said.
