Hawaii police officer who alleged racial discrimination by chief settles for $350K, agrees to retire
HONOLULU– A county in Hawaii has agreed to pay $350,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing its police chief of discriminating against a captain because he was Japanese-American, including one instance in which the chief narrowed his eyes, bowed repeatedly and said he could not trust the Japanese.
In the 2021 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu against Kauai police and the county, Paul Applegate, who is part Japanese, alleged that Chief Todd Raybuck mocked Asians several times.
Under Kauai County’s settlement terms, Applegate will receive approximately $45,000 in back wages, approximately $181,000 in general damages and approximately $124,000 in legal fees. Now acting assistant chief of the Investigative Services Bureau, Applegate, who is in his 50s, also agreed to retire from the department.
Under the settlement, there is no admission of guilt or liability.
Applegate’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Raybuck’s attorney, Jeffrey Portnoy, said the chief opposed the settlement.
“He wanted this case to go to trial to prove the claims were baseless,” Portnoy said. “We refused to agree to the settlement and therefore the chief was dismissed (from the case) before the settlement was consummated.”
Raybuck became Kauai’s police chief in 2019 after retiring from 27 years as a Las Vegas police officer.
According to the lawsuit, the Kauai Police Department announced internally that a white officer had been selected as assistant chief of the Administrative and Technical Bureau, even though no formal selection process had taken place. When Applegate did apply for the job, Raybuck interviewed him one-on-one, even though department practice required two people to conduct such interviews.
When Applegate met with Raybuck afterward to discuss the selection process, criteria and scoring, the lawsuit said, the chef mocked the Japanese’s appearance.
“Chief Raybuck proceeded to narrow his eyes and bow repeatedly to the plaintiff, stating that he could not trust the Japanese people because they do not always tell the truth,” the lawsuit said. “He then stated that Western culture ‘tells it like it is,’ while Japanese culture says ‘yes, yes, yes’ to your face, even if they think the person’s idea is stupid.”
An independent commission found the hiring process was proper and the chief denies any discriminatory behavior, Portnoy said.