Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
A key City Council committee has rejected a $612,000 settlement of sexual harassment and related claims filed by police outreach worker Sharon Black. Council nixes settlement in
city sex harassment lawsuitBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-BulletinThe city has spent some $500,000 to $700,000 defending itself and others, including retired Police Chief Michael Nakamura and current Assistant Police Chief Rafael Fajardo.
The federal and state lawsuits filed by Black four years ago center around her claim that she was subject to sexual harassment by former Assistant Chief Joseph Aveiro Jr., including having forced sex with him four times in five years.
Aveiro said their relationship was consensual.
Black further claimed that Nakamura, Fajardo and others not only failed to discipline Aveiro or address her initial complaint - but made matters worse.
Councilman Romy Cachola, Policy Committee chairman, said he and colleagues failed to approve a settlement presented by city attorneys during deliberations yesterday. Instead, Cachola said, Corporation Counsel David Arakawa has been instructed to continue seeking a settlement more favorable to the city while anticipating the May trial date.
"All things are still in play," Cachola said.
Councilman Steve Holmes said some Council members may be holding out for an offer more beneficial to the city.
"Sometimes, the smart play to save taxpayers' money is to wait until we get a little closer to trial date," Holmes said.
"Or maybe it's not in the best interest of the city to settle out. There are lots of ways to view it. But at this point, the offer that was coming in was not acceptable so the votes weren't there."
In 1997, the Council rejected a $1.25 million settlement proposal reached by attorneys for Black and the city. Black, in turn, rejected a $500,000 offer. A later $1.1 million settlement offer by Black also was rejected by the Council.
Reached late yesterday, Black said: "It appears we are going to court. I feel that I have been above and beyond reasonable."
Black said further that she has continued to be the target of retaliatory acts and slanderous remarks. She declined to go into specifics.
"I am, however, grateful for the outstanding support that the rank-and-file officers have shown me," Black said.
City & County of Honolulu
