Lawsuit filed for 'locality' pay here
By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer
A federal lawsuit filed yesterday seeks "locality" pay that would mean more money for 15,000 federal civilian employees here.
The class action lawsuit asks that federal employees in Hawai'i and Alaska be granted the pay adjustments of 12 percent to 26 percent that federal employees in the other 48 states now receive.
"We shouldn't have to leave our home to be treated equally and fairly under the law," said Joyce Matsuo, 57, an Internal Revenue Service auditor who retired last year and is one of the Hawai'i residents who filed the suit. "All federal employees should be treated with fairness regardless of where we choose to live."
The suit, which seeks to represent federal civilian workers and retirees, contends that the federal locality pay law excluding Hawai'i and Alaska is unconstitutional. It asks that federal workers in the two states be granted locality pay, back pay and money for violations to their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit also asks that the allowance be included in the calculations of federal retirees' benefits.
The federal government began paying locality pay in 1994. The purpose was to give federal workers comparable pay to that of private-industry workers in the same jobs in their particular city, said Rex Fujichaku, one of the lawyers representing the residents.
Because federal pension benefits are based on the federal workers' pay, including locality pay, the benefits are also higher for retirees in the other 48 states, Fujichaku said.
Federal workers in Hawai'i and Alaska receive a cost-of-living allowance, which is not included in retirement benefit calculations. The amount is capped at 25 percent. In Hawai'i, federal workers on O'ahu receive the 25 percent, while Neighbor Island federal employees receive a smaller percentage.
Fujichaku said he does not know if the allowance is the reason for excluding the two states because the issue was not addressed in the federal law authorizing locality pay.
Fujichaku said the reason why Hawai'i and Alaska were excluded from locality pay was not addressed by the law or legislative history of the measure approved by Congress.
"That is a big mystery," said Fujichaku, a lawyer with Bronster, Crabtree & Hoshibata, which represents the plaintiffs along with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Woodley & McGillivary.
U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said he cannot comment on the suit because it would be a conflict of interest. He said he and workers in his office here would get the higher pay under the suit. He referred questions to the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs, which could not be reached for comment late yesterday.
Fujichaku said he did not know how much money the suit is seeking.
Matsuo said she would receive about $400 more a month in pension benefits if she was covered by the locality law. "The fact that we don't have locality pay impacts heavily on retirement benefits," she said. "Now that I'm retired, I feel the harm that's been done to federal employees in Hawai'i and Alaska."
Reach Ken Kobayashi at 525-8030 or kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com
