Former County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong is suing Hawaii County for $306,000 in legal fees he says he incurred successfully defending himself against a defamation lawsuit.
The civil lawsuit was filed Monday on Yagong’s behalf by Kailua-Kona attorney Frank Jung, who also defended Yagong in the defamation litigation.
The complaint stems from a 2012 lawsuit by two county employees, then-Elections Administrator Patricia Nakamoto and elections clerk Shyla Ayau, who claimed they were defamed and their reputations besmirched by Yagong, then the council chairman, and Jamae Kawauchi, then the county clerk.
At issue was a Jan. 12, 2012, newspaper article, written by then-Tribune-Herald reporter Jason Armstrong, in which Kawauchi identified Nakamoto, Ayau and two other county employees who were fired.
The case was appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court, which dismissed the case against Kawauchi, saying the comments attributed to her in the article weren’t defamatory because they were true.
The county settled earlier this year with Nakamoto and Ayau and agreed to pay them $135,000, to be divided between the two how they deemed fit.
The settlement agreement, accepted by Kona Circuit Judge Wendy DeWeese, covered only the county and Yagong in his official capacity on the council. A separate stipulation for dismissal of the case against Yagong in his personal capacity was filed by the Circuit Court on May 25.
The dismissal was with prejudice, which means the claims by Nakamoto and Ayau can’t be refiled.
Yagong and Kawauchi were investigating reports that county employees were hosting parties with alcoholic beverages at the county’s leased Elections Division warehouse, in violation of the county code.
The two were also probing reports that the warehouse manager, Glen Shikuma, was illegally running a private sign-making business in the warehouse, which also would have been a county code violation.
Investigators found evidence of full, empty and partially consumed liquor containers, as well as sign-making equipment Shikuma said he stored at the warehouse but claimed not to use on county property.
After union grievance hearings, Nakamoto received a 10-day suspension and was reinstated.
Shikuma died of an aneurysm during the union arbitration process.
Yagong’s lawsuit noted the Office of Corporation Counsel — the county’s civil lawyers — covered Kawauchi and him only in their official county capacities, meaning they had to hire their own attorneys to represent them in their personal capacities.
The complaint states Hawaii Revised Statutes Sections 414D-14 and 414D-160 to 165 on indemnification require the county to reimburse Yagong because “there is no finding of guilt, wrongdoing or liability” on his part.
According to the lawsuit, the County Clerk on July 1 “wrongfully refused and/or failed to reimburse Yagong” $305,929.15 in legal fees and costs incurred successfully defending himself in his individual capacity. The complaint further states the county’s “wrongful refusal … to reimburse Yagong … has resulted in his financial devastation.”
“This has been a devastating situation for him because … he’s deeply in debt. It’s cost him his marriage,” Jung told the Tribune-Herald.
“This is a matter that has affected him not only financially, but personally, so it’s a shame.”
In addition to the $305.929.15 in fees and costs related to the defamation suit, Yagong also is seeking attorney fees and costs for his new lawsuit against the county and “such other relief this court deems proper and just.”
A call to Assistant Corporation Counsel J Yoshimoto weren’t returned in time for this story.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.