Office fight
reportedly involves
state labor chief
Both state and Hawaii Government Employees Association officials are investigating allegations of a physical altercation between the head of the state Labor Department and a department manager.
The fracas allegedly occurred last Wednesday in Labor Director Nelson Befitel's office between Befitel and James Decker, manager of the agency's administrative and technical support branch.
Gov. Linda Lingle declined yesterday to comment on the allegation, saying she did not know the exact details and because it was a "personnel matter."
Lingle was told about it Friday by Bob Awana, Lingle's chief of staff. Both Awana and the Department of Human Resources are investigating the case.
The state has a zero-tolerance rule for workplace violence, but both the union and Lingle said they were not sure if it would be considered workplace violence.
Randy Perreira, HGEA deputy executive director, said he would only confirm that "our staff did meet with an employee who advised us an incident did occur."
"We are in the process of investigating as well as determining what course of action to take," Perreira said.
Although the state has a zero-tolerance policy, Perreira said that how it specifically applies is subject to interpretation and how it would function in this case "will be borne out by the investigation the state conducts."
