Lingle disciplines labor director

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday ordered state Labor Department director Nelson Befitel suspended for five days without pay for committing an act of "workplace violence" against department official James Decker.

BEFITEL

Befitel grabbed Decker by the right arm to prevent him from leaving the meeting.

"The employee (Decker) was calculating," Lingle said in a press conference attended by Cabinet members and some Republican lawmakers, but "by holding the employee's arm, (Befitel) did in fact violate our policy against workplace violence."

Befitel, 37, an attorney for the Lingle gubernatorial campaign and longtime family friend of the governor's, said he was sorry and had learned from his mistakes.

He said he would take the unpaid leave as soon as he could "clear my calendar."

Lawsuit possible

Decker, 41, manager of the administrative and technical support branch of the occupational safety and health division, said he believed "justice has been served."

He said there were "some inaccuracies" in the official investigative report on the incident compiled by Department of Human Resources official Francis Keeno, but he is pleased with the outcome.

"I support the governor and I support Mr. Befitel," Decker said. "He is a professional."

He also said he was pursuing a union grievance, filed Wednesday by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, and a criminal complaint he filed with the Honolulu Police Department immediately after the altercation. And Decker said he might also consult an attorney about filing a civil suit against Befitel.

The governor and Befitel said some employees in the Labor Department were "resisting" the new administration's efforts to change the way the department operates. The administration's goal is to promote a less confrontational and more consultative relationship with private business.

Divergent accounts

The Keeno report on the Befitel-Decker dispute said it involved a "seemingly insignificant" issue: arranging for Befitel to have computer access to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration database.

Decker "insisted" Befitel put the request for access in writing, but Befitel already had received approval for access from federal OSHA officials on the West Coast, and did not need to make the request in writing, Keeno's report said.

There was "divergent testimony" about what happened at the meeting in Befitel's office, Keeno said, but the investigator found Befitel's version of events "more credible."

Decker said Befitel was agitated, angry and speaking in a loud voice almost from the beginning of the meeting. Befitel and his secretary said it was Decker who was loud.

Both men agreed Befitel repeatedly pointed his finger at Decker, but disagreed on whether the gesture was intimidating. Decker asked Befitel at least 20 times to stop the finger-pointing and decided to leave the meeting when he "began to feel that he was being disciplined (or at least being threatened with disciplinary action)," Keeno wrote.

Befitel tried to stop Decker by holding the door closed, then grabbing his upper right arm.

"Mr. Decker yelled at Director Befitel, 'Get your hands off me, boy,' " Keeno said in his report.

Decker said yesterday he did call Befitel "boy" but had apologized for using the word and did not intend it to have any racial connotations. "I said that because I'm older than he is and I needed to get his attention," Decker told reporters.

"Mr. Decker acted deliberately and calculatingly, and he is therefore partly responsible for creating the situation leading up to this incident," Keeno wrote.

"Director Befitel committed an act of workplace violence when he grabbed Mr. Decker's arm, ripped Mr. Decker's polo shirt," Keeno's report said.

Decker's leaving the meeting would have been an act of insubordination if Befitel had ordered him not to leave.

Since that did not happen, "no disciplinary action for Mr. Decker's insubordination should be imposed," Keeno wrote.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2447.