A former building inspector trainee is suing the county Department of Public Works, saying she was discriminated against and unlawfully terminated in retaliation after she reported what she saw as wrongdoing in the department.
Ana Kapihe, a 64-year-old woman of Hawaiian, East Indian and Native American descent, worked in the Building Division for less than a year in 2019 and 2020 when her probationary period was first extended and then terminated, while two younger men who started the job at the same time and whose work product was similar were promoted, she said.
Kapihe said in the lawsuit she was on a ride-along with one inspector and witnessed him meeting up with someone at a job site and putting “what appeared to be a significant amount of cash,” into his backpack before leaving without conducting an inspection. She said she was told to stay in the vehicle.
The inspector also spent a good portion of the day tending to his own private and personal business, she said, including a structure he was building in the Ainaloa subdivision in Puna, a property that was not on their list of site visits for the day. He also went to his home, to a bank and then to a restaurant where they had lunch, with, at one point the inspector telling Kapihe to wait in the restaurant while he met someone outside, she said.
She said the inspector berated her, calling her a “f*cking little old lady,” and telling her she should “be at f*cking home doing what f*cking little old ladies do.”
He also told her she “does not belong” in the Building Division and that she “would not last,” the lawsuit states. Her immediate supervisor in the division also verbally abused her, calling her “stupid woman,” “old stupid woman” and “stupid Hawaiian,” she said.
She had filed formal internal complaints about both the inspector and the supervisor, but no action was taken, she said. Kapihe is seeking mandatory training and disciplinary action for both employees. She’s also seeking compensatory damages in lost wages and emotional distress to be decide by a jury, plus punitive damages of at least $300,000 and legal fees.
Kapihe, who has more than 45 years of drafting and construction experience, supervised job sites in Washington State and Hawaii and worked as construction manager for Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island between 2017 and 2019. She said she is very physically fit, working as a swimming pool lifeguard three days per week and as an active volunteer firefighter in Waimea.
Her lawsuit, filed Thursday, also says the department didn’t accommodate her disabilities: mild dyslexia and hearing loss in one ear. She said she had informed the department of her disabilities during job interviews and requested a phone amplifier or closed captioning screen and a blue filter for her work computer screen. It took five months to get the blue filter and she never received the other assistive devices, she said. Kapihe filed a complaint of discrimination with the Hawaii Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging discrimination based on race, sex, age, national origin/ancestry, and disability. After mediation with county officials failed, she withdrew her complaint and in February, received notice from the employment commission of her right to sue.
A complaint in a lawsuit tells only one side of a story. More details will become available once the county receives the complaint and responds.
“We have not been served with the complaint, however, our practice is not to comment on ongoing litigation,” Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance said Monday.