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Former Maui cop’s
suit says county
failed to fulfill
earlier settlement

By Gary T. Kubota
Maui correspondent

WAILUKU -- A former police officer is alleging that Maui County has failed to carry out the terms of a settlement to put her back to work.

Malia Chun has filed a lawsuit in Maui Circuit Court seeking unemployment benefits, attorney's costs and unspecified relief.

Chun, who worked as a police officer for five years before resigning in 1997, filed a sex-discrimination and harassment lawsuit against the county.

The sex-discrimination suit charged that she was made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace and that profanity about her gender was used against her by a field training officer. She also alleged her police training uniform was stolen and burned to discourage her from being a police officer.

The case was settled on May 17, 1999, on the eve of a trial in U.S. District Court, after the county promised to give her a job, the lawsuit said.

According to her suit filed June 8, "various jobs were promised but the county was unable to provide any of them."

She eventually obtained work as an investigator in the prosecutor's office on Nov. 8, 1999.

Chun alleged that while working in the prosecutor's office she suffered discrimination, harassment and retaliation as a result of her lawsuit. She said part of her job as an investigator was to go to the Maui Police Department to pick up evidence.

Chun said Prosecutor Richard Bissen instructed her that she could not go to the Police Department "because of her situation with the MPD and that she would have to wait until the end of her six-month probationary period to do this," the lawsuit said.

First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ben Acob instructed Chun to check with him before calling the Police Department, the lawsuit charged.

Chun said she filed a motion to enforce the settlement agreement.

She said she was called into a Jan. 18 meeting with Bissen and Acob.

Bissen told Chun if it were up to him he would not have hired her and that he didn't want her going to the Police Department because he did not want her to interfere with the prosecutor's relationship with the police, the lawsuit said.

Chun said she was called into the office by Bissen on Jan. 27.

She told Bissen she didn't want to talk about her job restrictions without her attorney, Michael Akana, because it was the subject of a court motion.

Speaking to Akana by speakerphone, Bissen said he didn't want Chun going to the Police Department because there had been threats made against her, the lawsuit said.

Akana said the alleged threats were a pretext to get Chun to resign. Akana instructed Chun to leave the office, then hung up the telephone.

Bissen said he wanted to talk to Chun, but Chun left and returned to her desk.

A personnel employee later informed Chun that she was suspended from work.

Chun said she later learned the suspension was for alleged misconduct relating to her leaving the office without being excused by Bissen.

A state appeals officer upheld a decision to deny Chun unemployment benefits.

In his May 12 ruling, the appeals officer said the evidence showed Bissen's request for Chun to remain in the office was not detrimental to her health, safety or welfare or represented discriminatory employee conduct.

Bissen has declined to comment.