LIHUE, Kauai — A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s rejection of a lawsuit filed by former Kauai Police Chief K.C. Lum against then-Mayor Bryan Baptiste and other county officials.

The suit alleging Lum was discriminated against because of his Chinese ancestry was filed in 2006, a week after Baptiste asked the county’s Police Commission to fire Lum. Baptiste died in June 2008.
Lum claimed he suffered from a hostile work environment created by county police commissioner Leon Gonsalves Sr., who had referred to the chief as “Hop Sing” in a 2004 e-mail message. That was the name of the Chinese cook on the old TV show “Bonanza.”
A three-judge panel with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held there was no basis for Lum’s claims of discrimination and conspiracy.