Posted on: Friday, October 8, 2004

Judge limits substitutes' request

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

Hawai'i's substitute public school teachers who claim they should have been earning more pay since the passage of a 1996 law won't be able to recover money for work before 2000, a state judge said yesterday.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn agreed with state attorneys who argued that the statute of limitations prohibits substitutes from any recovery two years before the filing of their 2002 class action lawsuit.

But the judge said she won't issue a final ruling on that point until she decides whether the lawsuit should be dismissed.

Another hearing on the state's dismissal request of the case was set for Dec. 6.

Ahn's ruling on the statute of limitations means that substitute teachers won't be able to seek an estimated $9 million of the $25 million.

The law clearly said substitutes should be paid at a daily rate based on the salary of a certain category of full-time public school teachers, according to their lawyers. But they were never paid based on that category. Substitutes now make $119.80 a day, about $30 less than what they should be getting, their lawyers contended.

State lawyers have argued that the classifications changed with collective bargaining agreements and the substitutes are being paid the correct amount.

Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Swanson yesterday urged Ahn to toss the lawsuit based on the doctrine that the state cannot be sued for money damages unless it authorizes such claims.

Ahn said she wants further research on whether the lawsuit can still proceed on the grounds that the state violated a contractual agreement with the substitutes for allegedly not paying them what they deserved.

The case has stirred strong interest among substitute teachers. About 1,000 from a current pool of about 3,900 work each day when full-time teachers call in sick or cannot work, according to the DOE. The public school system has about 12,660 teachers.

"Everybody is entitled to the money they're supposed to get," said Genny Chang, a Honolulu public schools substitute teacher for 27 years and one of about 15 who filled the courtroom gallery. "You wouldn't feel happy about it."

The lawsuit has been certified as a class action representing anyone who worked as substitute teacher in the public schools from 1996 until today.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.