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XEROX ONE YEAR LATER
Outpouring In the days and months following last November's Xerox tragedy, victims' families and company employees received much support from the community.
of aloha comforted
survivors
Xerox officer praises police,
prosecutors and the community
for their supportOne year later, families, friends
and co-workers of seven murdered
men are still strugglingBy Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin"I've lived in Hawaii most of my life, but I never understood the value of aloha as much as I understand it now," Xerox Hawaii Vice President and General Manager Glenn Sexton said.
"The community has been so supportive. From friends to strangers, never was a negative word said -- it was always very positive. The letters we received, the flowers and support meant a lot to all of us."
Support came from groups such as First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu, which brought dinner to the homes of five of the seven victims' families for three weeks.
"We wanted to help them in ways we would want to be helped," said the Rev. Dan Chun, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu.
Sexton praised the Honolulu Police Department, especially Lt. Frank Fujii of the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Unit, and Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Peter Carlisle and his staff for their sensitivity.
"Chief (Lee) Donohue and his people gave us help and support in personal, spiritual and emotional kinds of ways and I'll never forget that," Sexton said of the police.
"I think Peter Carlisle and his folks did a tremendous job, were wonderful to the families in honoring their privacy, which was a tough thing to have to do, and they did it with sensitivity."
Adversity has brought his employees closer, said Sexton.
"The strength that has been displayed throughout this whole tragedy has been really overwhelming, particularly from the (victims') families," he said.
"I've learned that our employees are much stronger than I imagined. The ohana and support, taking care of each other, has really shown."
The company is providing ongoing trauma counseling for its employees.
"Rather than dealing with it as kind of a one-time event, we have been very careful to continue the process. We have an expert from out of town coming in regularly. And he will be here Nov. 2."
It is unknown how last week's announcement that Xerox Corp. plans a $1 billion cost-cutting program will affect Hawaii operations.
"I couldn't tell you what kind of impact it would have here, but business continues to be good," Sexton said. "By far, the matter we tend to be most preoccupied with is (tomorrow's) memorial."
Victims to file suit A Xerox employee, who saw co-workers Ronald Kawamae and Jason Balatico shot but was spared by Byran Uyesugi, has not been able to return to work.
At least one lawsuit against Xerox
is expected; the killer also might
sue the company for
not firing himBy Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin"The only thing I can compare Randall Shin's post-traumatic stress disorder to is what I've read about Vietnam veterans who wind up living in parks," his attorney Michael Green said.
"Randall just has more support. He's got a loving wife, he's got two great kids and they give him lots of support. And he has things to occupy his day and his time. But to even revisit the issue, in my view, he's psychologically damaged."
Green has been retained by Shin and one other Xerox employee, whom he declined to name.
To date no lawsuits have been filed against Xerox, Castle Medical Center or Uyesugi stemming from the Nov. 2 incident, but Green said he plans to sue on behalf of his clients in January.
Green predicts there'll be other suits.
The pending "civil war" could get ugly, with much finger-pointing between Xerox, the doctors it hired to assess Uyesugi and other parties, Green said.
There's talk that Uyesugi may sue Xerox for not firing him. The intent would be to shift financial burden away from his family, a source said.
Another prominent attorney, who requested anonymity, believes potential clients -- including victims' families and other Xerox employees -- may be holding off until the Occupational Safety & Health Division releases its investigative report on the Xerox incident or Uyesugi's appeal is settled.
The issue in any lawsuit will center on whether Xerox did enough follow-up on Uyesugi after recognizing that he had a problem with anger, attorneys said.
"We're talking about someone who was threatening to kill people," Green said of Uyesugi.
"I think if there was a follow-up on this guy, if they made sure that every six months he was re-evaluated, I think he probably would have been removed from the workplace," Green added.
Attorneys paid close attention to testimony by Xerox employees during the recent murder trial that Uyesugi threatened to kill the seven co-workers.
"I'll shoot all of them," Uyesugi told co-worker Clyde Nitta.
Russell Inaba, a Xerox repair technician, testified that his supervisor, Melvin Lee, told him to stay home from work in 1993 because Uyesugi had threatened his life.
Lee was one of the seven men killed by Uyesugi last Nov. 2.
"The question is, how many times when an employee threatens violence are we going to keep him," said Elizabeth Jubin Fujiwara, founder and past president of the Hawaii Chapter of the National Employees Lawyers Association.
"Regarding Uyesugi, it appears the company tried to accommodate him by letting him stay. They sent him to the doctors and that was a start. But what happened after, what was the follow-up?"
Xerox Hawaii executive Glenn Sexton defended the company's response.
"I think the evidence that was demonstrated in the trial talked about many things Xerox Corp. did at the time when there were reports to management about Byran's behavior, in terms of having him assessed professionally by not just one or two experts but by a variety of them," Sexton said.
"And he returned to work only when every single one of them had deemed him not a threat."
The state public defender's office, meanwhile, has filed Uyesugi's notice of appeal. Deputy Public Defender Ted Chinn says his office is still reviewing transcripts from the trial. Of the grounds for appeal, the most likely for Uyesugi appears to be being granted a change of venue for trial because of publicity generated by the Xerox incident.
