Shipyard race-bias case back to court

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

A part-Hawaiian Pearl Harbor shipyard manager will get a new trial on his claims that he was passed over for promotion because the Navy favored Caucasians.

A federal jury returned a verdict in 2003 against Ronald L. Obrey Jr., 52, a shipyard worker for 35 years, who sued the Navy alleging he wasn't promoted in 2002 based on discrimination against qualified candidates of Asian-Pacific ancestry in favor of Caucasian applicants.

But on Friday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Obrey's appeal and ruled that visiting U.S. District Judge Manuel Real improperly excluded evidence and testimony that Obrey wanted to present.

In the unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel found that the exclusion was not "harmless" and sent the case back to court.

"They rightfully overturned the judge's ruling so now everything can be heard," Obrey said. "It's a good thing for us and other local managers at Pearl Harbor."

Obrey said without the testimony and evidence, he and his attorney weren't left with much of a case at trial.

Obrey's attorney Clayton Ikei said the decision "makes our case stronger."

But a federal attorney believes the result will be the same.

"I'm confident that when all the evidence is considered, it will show the Navy did the right thing (in hiring the best person for the job)," Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Helper said.

He said Obrey is a "valued employee" and was given "full consideration."

"I don't think the new evidence that's going to come in is going to change the jury's verdict," Helper said.

The appeals court ruled that Real improperly excluded a report by SMS Research & Marketing Services that Obrey says showed a correlation between race and shipyard promotions.

And, the judge should not have excluded what Obrey said would have been testimony from Ben Toyama, a shipyard employee who recalled conversations in which shipyard officials expressed bias against local Asian-Pacific Islanders and anecdotal testimony from three shipyard workers who believed they suffered from race discrimination, the appeals court said.

Toyama also is an official with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a union that represents shipyard workers.

No new trial date was set.

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