Public-job lawsuit
gains plaintiff

A military husband disputes his
rejection based on his residency

A military husband who lives in Kailua but lists a Florida address as his legal residence has joined a lawsuit challenging state law and county policy that require applicants for most public-sector jobs to be current or former Hawaii residents at the time of application.

The amended lawsuit was being filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu. It contends the residency requirements are unconstitutional and penalize nonresidents.

Attorney General Mark Bennett has said he believes the state law, upon which county hiring policies are based, is constitutional and that he will defend it, but he acknowledges the issue is an "open question" which never has been definitively decided by the courts.

City officials have declined comment on the suit.

The new plaintiff, Blane M. Wilson of Pensacola, Fla., moved to Oahu in April with his wife, who is on active duty in the military. He says his application to be a police evidence specialist for the city Department of Human Resources was rejected solely because he is not a legal resident of Hawaii, according to the amended lawsuit.

Wilson also applied for a job with the state Department of Human Resources and was rejected partly because of his residency status, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit's original plaintiff, Tallahassee, Fla., resident Kevin R. Walsh, contends his applications for three city jobs were rejected solely on the residency requirements.

Their rejection letters "make no mention of plaintiffs' talents, abilities or other qualifications," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing the state and counties from enforcing the residency requirements until the issue can be decided by the courts.

The residency requirements have been challenged before at the state level. The Hawaii Supreme Court dismissed a case in 1986 without ruling on it, saying the issue was moot because by the time it reached the court, the person being considered for the job had fulfilled all residency requirements.