Part-timer sues ITT
over dismissal

---

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

A former employee of a company contracted by the federal government to provide operations support services at military installations contends she was fired because she was seen talking to a government auditor investigating the company for fraudulent practices.

Jacqueline Kaohi filed a whistle-blower lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court against ITT Industries, which has an operation at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai.

ITT provides fire, paramedic and other services not provided by the military.

Kaohi was a temporary part-time employee for ITT and was transferred to work in its finance office in April 2000.

ITT had fired its finance manager after he made allegations of fraud by ITT against the government, the suit said. The allegations resulted in the Defense Contracting Auditing Agency conducting extensive audits of ITT's operations at Barking Sands.

Kaohi in her lawsuit said that around November 2000 she learned of ITT's over- and underpayment of many employees between 1998 to 1999 when she was assigned to remove information about those payments from their payroll files and place them in the office of ITT business manager Tim Lorenzt.

She reported her suspicions to the government's contracting officer in February 2001, and he later contacted Lorenz, the suit said.

Later that month, Lorenz and project manager Paul Molyneaux saw her having lunch with the government auditor; Kaohi was terminated later that day, according to the suit. She was told that Molyneaux needed to cut costs and that all temporary, part-time workers were being laid off. Molyneaux did not return calls for comment.

In her suit, Kaohi does not allege that ITT was overbilling the government or that over- and underpayments were made.

"They just didn't want her around," said Kaohi's attorney, David Simons.