Posted at 9:25 a.m., Friday, April 27, 2001

UHPA and state square off before Supreme Court

Associated Press

The University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly wants the state Supreme Court to find that it was wrong for Gov. Ben Cayetano to withhold $6.2 million from the university.

The faculty union sued the state in 1998, saying it was illegal for Cayetano to reduce the university's budget to make up for savings lost when professors refused to participate in the state's payroll lag for public employees.

Union attorney Anthony Gill told the high court yesterday that UHPA isn't asking for a return of the money. He asked the court to find that Cayetano and the state were wrong in order to help avoid a similar situation from occurring in the future.

Deputy Attorney General Brian Aburano countered that the state did nothing wrong, and that there is no evidence that any harm was done.

The court is to make its ruling later.