Two retired Hawaii Fire Department battalion chiefs who sued former Fire Chief Darren Rosario and lost both their Circuit Court case and their appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals will have their case heard by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
The high court said in a Nov. 18 order that it will hear oral arguments in the case of Steve Loyola and Ty Medeiros, who claim they were stripped of their badges by Rosario for publicly criticizing him.
The former West Hawaii firefighters allege their administrative suspensions with pay violated their First Amendment rights and their right to due process. They also claim they were retaliated against for being whistleblowers, and were defamed and humiliated.
Their attorney, Ted Hong, told the Tribune-Herald last week he appreciates “that the Supreme Court is taking a look at some of these public sector employment issues.”
”This case brings up two major issues — one, the degree to which public sector employees can speak out against the administration under the First Amendment,” Hong said. “But more importantly, what we see across the board on the state level and the county level is they will place an employee on administrative leave with pay, in our case, indefinitely.
“And generally, people will think it’s like paid vacation. But it’s not,” he continued. “Because for Loyola and Medeiros, because this fire department was short handed, they would get regularly scheduled overtime — which is kind of oxymoronic, but they had to have battalion chiefs on 24/7 because there were only three, I think, in the West Hawaii area. They would have to rotate on a regular basis, and they would get paid overtime.
“And so what Chief Rosario did — and he knew what he was doing — he basically cut their salary by about $50,000 each, because he placed them on administrative leave with pay. The problem is the perception that overtime is discretionary kind of pervaded the Circuit Court’s and the Intermediate Court’s perspective. And I am grateful that the Hawaii Supreme Court was able to look beyond that.”
Hong said the paid leave also hurt the pair’s retirement checks because state and county worker retirement is based on their five highest-earning years, and receiving base pay only without overtime while they are at their highest pay grade has an adverse effect on their retirement income.
Before filing suit, Loyola and Medeiros filed for lost overtime pay and benefits to the county’s Merit Appeals Board, which on Oct. 28, 2016, unanimously rejected their claims.
They are petitioning the high court to overturn the board’s ruling, as well as an adverse judgment Oct. 6, 2022, by then-Kona Circuit Judge Robert Kim and a summary disposition order June 27, 2025, by the Intermediate Court of Appeals, which affirmed Kim’s ruling.
Medeiros claims he lost more than $40,000 in overtime and vacation pay during a seven-month suspension, and Loyola estimates he lost more than $51,550 as a result of being placed on indefinite administrative leave.
Medeiros wrote a letter to Rosario on Sept. 15, 2014, requesting Rosario’s resignation and sent copies to the Fire Commission and then-Mayor Billy Kenoi.
Loyola wrote a letter to the Fire Commission on Sept. 23, 2014, requesting Rosario and then-Deputy Chief Renwick Victorino be fired. Medeiros and Loyola claimed Rosario had put lives and safety at risk because of inadequate emergency plans they say became obvious during tsunami and hurricane risks.
Loyola also alleged illegal misconduct by Rosario, including covering up a theft investigation, violating Civil Service laws regarding promotions, and fiscal improprieties concerning the oversight of a “Fire Relief Association” fund.
Medeiros claimed he was called to Rosario’s office on Nov. 21, 2014, and was ordered to remove the badge and battalion chief insignia from his uniform which other department personnel witnessed, and the event was captured on video.
Hong described the video recording of the event as “humiliating.”
“The (Intermediate Court of Appeals) committed grave error by refusing to recognize the inherent dignity and pride in a person’s work,” according to the plaintiffs’ application to the high court. “The ICA ruled that stripping and confiscation of the appellants’ signs of office and authority is consistent with the conditions in the modern workplace.”
In the county’s response to Medeiros’ and Loyola’s application to the Supreme Court, Deputy Corporation Counsel Mark Disher wrote that the former firefighters, while on paid administrative leave, “received full compensation and: (1) did not “suffer a demotion;” (2) were not “subject[ed] to a loss of fringe benefits or privileges”; and (3) did not have “any adverse information [placed in their] personnel file.”
“The Fire Chief did not schedule appellants for any overtime-type work while they were out on paid administrative leave because they were not at work to perform overtime,” the reply states.
In addition, Disher wrote, “As the ICA correctly recognized, appellants failed to support their novel theory of “peer humiliation,” i.e., that the retrieval of their badges and insignia was discipline or an adverse employment action.”
Both sides were notified that they are to file a supplemental brief within 20 days of the Nov. 18 orders, not exceeding 20 pages in length, with no responses by the opposing parties.
Scheduling of oral arguments before the high court also is pending.
Email John Burnett at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
