Kamehameha Schools is trying to get back as much as $2 million of the $7 million it paid last year to settle a lawsuit that challenged its admissions policy favoring Hawaiian students, according to legal papers filed in federal court in California.

The papers are contained in new litigation filed after publication of an Advertiser news story in February that revealed that the settlement was $7 million.

The money was paid to a Big Island mother and child in return for their agreement to drop the lawsuit just before the U.S. Supreme Court was to decide whether it would hear an appeal of the case.

The plaintiffs, who have never been publicly identified and are known as Jane and John Doe, alleged in the California case that the schools "threatened" to publicly identify them if they did not place $2 million in an escrow account for possible return to the schools because terms of the confidential settlement had been revealed.

Ken Kuniyuki, a Hawai'i lawyer who now represents the pair, is alleging that David Schulmeister, an attorney for the schools, said that if the schools were forced to file suit over the issue, the names of the Does would become public.

Kuniyuki made the allegation in a sworn declaration filed this month in federal court in Sacramento, seeking a court order barring public identification of the plaintiffs.

Schools attorney Paul Alston denied that Schulmeister threatened to reveal the plaintiff's identities.

"Schulmeister told Kuniyuki that the (Kamehameha Schools/ Bishop Estate) believed the settlement agreement had been breached and that the estate was entitled to damages," Alston said in court papers filed April 14 in Sacramento.

"He further explained that a public lawsuit could make it difficult for the Does' anonymity to be preserved" and suggested that the $2 million be held in escrow while the parties discussed resolution of the dispute short of a lawsuit, according to Alston.

Alston stressed on Tuesday that Kamehameha Schools has not filed a lawsuit or taken any action that would publicly identify the Does.

"Kamehameha Schools is closely scrutinizing how to proceed," he said.

Tuesday night and yesterday, the Kamehameha Schools board of trustees and Chief Executive Dee Jay Mailer sent a mass e-mail to parents and alumni notifying them of the new legal skirmishing in California and alerting them that The Advertiser was preparing a story on the subject.

"A breach of confidentiality has occurred, and an investigation into the line of responsibility is in process. Legal action as appropriate shall follow," the trustees' e-mail said.

"It is aggravating to be drawn into this complicated and unsavory infighting," the trustees' message continued. "However, we will not allow this latest legal maneuver to distract us from our mission."

'FEAR FOR OUR SAFETY'

Jane and John Doe filed legal papers in Sacramento federal court denying any role in the release of the settlement figure by John Goemans, an attorney who used to represent them but who now is involved in a dispute over compensation for his services in the case.

Their attorney, Kuniyuki, also asked the federal court to issue a restraining order against all parties in the case preventing any attempts to disclose the identities of Jane and John Doe.

He attached an April 2 sworn statement from Jane Doe that said, "both John Doe and I fear for our safety if our identities are made public."

She noted that more than 1,550 reader comments were posted on the Advertiser's Web site following the February story that disclosed the settlement amount.

"Many of them are extremely critical of us. Some include threats of violence against us," she said.

"I have lived in Hawai'i for many years. The negative comments and threats posted to the Honolulu Advertiser's February 8, 2008 article are entirely consistent with my experience with many local residents regarding the admissions policy of the Kamehameha Schools."

If their identities become public, she said, "we are prepared to move and go into hiding."

Last week, following a hearing before U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell Jr., all parties in the federal court case stipulated that they would not disclose the true identities of the Does.

Goemans told The Advertiser in February that he believed the settlement amount should be a matter of public record, given Kamehameha Schools' status as the wealthiest and most influential nonprofit institution in Hawai'i.

ATTORNEY'S TROUBLES

In a separate civil case now pending in Sacramento state court, Goemans was sentenced earlier this month to serve eight days in jail and fined $4,000 for violating a court order to keep the settlement amount secret.

Goemans, 73, now living in Florida with his sister, said by telephone, "I have zero money, I have serious health issues, and now I've been ordered to serve an eight-day jail sentence in California in the middle of May. I don't know what's going to happen."

The California state case was filed against Goemans by Eric Grant, a Sacramento attorney who litigated the Does' lawsuit from the time it was first filed in Hawai'i in 2003 through its settlement in May 2007.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Grant was entitled to 40 percent of the $7 million total, or $2.8 million.

He sued Goemans in Superior Court in Sacramento last year to try to settle the outstanding question of how much Goemans should be compensated.

Goemans conceived the civil rights lawsuit against the schools, found the plaintiffs on the Big Island and brought them together with Grant.

Goemans said the only money he has received was a $20,000 loan from Jane Doe but believes he is entitled to as much as 25 percent of the total settlement, or $1.75 million.

According to documents filed in the California state case, Grant became concerned early this year that Goemans intended to reveal the amount of the legal settlement and on Feb. 5 obtained a court order against Goemans blocking any such disclosures.

Three days later, The Advertiser published a news story based on Goemans' statements about the settlement amount.

Goemans said in a sworn statement filed with the California court March 17 that he is "not medically or mentally 100 percent" and had no memory of being informed of the Feb. 5 court order.

"I want to emphasize to the court that it was not my intent to deliberately and knowingly violate the court's order," the statement said.

But he reiterated his belief that Kamehameha Schools, as a tax-exempt organization, should not and cannot keep the terms of the settlement confidential.

After the settlement terms were made public, Grant filed a new federal lawsuit March 28 in Sacramento against Kamehameha Schools and his own clients, Jane and John Doe, asking the court for a ruling that he was not responsible for the disclosure and has no financial liability because of it.

Grant and an attorney who represents him did not return telephone requests for comment.

Alston filed a lengthy legal memo in the case last week questioning the Sacramento court's jurisdiction in the matter since the Does and the schools are in Hawai'i.