The asymmetric law that just left a Hawai'i employer holding most of its legal bill
Hawai'i employers can't recoup full legal costs after beating a whistleblower lawsuit – even on a clean trial win – after a state appeals ruling.
On May 27, 2026, the Intermediate Court of Appeals of the State of Hawai'i vacated a $180,583.50 attorneys' fees award that Hawaii Pacific University had won after defeating a former professor's combined contract and whistleblower lawsuit. The court held that the trial judge had stretched the fee cap beyond what the statute allowed, and had effectively shifted fees onto a plaintiff under the Hawai'i Whistleblower Protection Act when only plaintiffs can recover fees under that law.
The dispute began in January 2014, when HPU professor Gordon Knowles's supervisor, Dr. Carlos Suarez, learned Knowles was also teaching at the University of Hawai'i and Honolulu Community College. According to the decision, that violated HPU's Conflict of Interest Policy. Knowles pushed back, telling his supervisor he was being unfairly targeted and that HPU only found out because someone was stalking him. HPU said it had simply reviewed course offerings from other schools.
Even so, HPU offered him a five-year faculty contract that June, running from August 2014 through August 2019. The relationship soured fast. Knowles tried twice to get restraining orders against HPU faculty and officials over his stalking allegations. Both were denied. An internal HPU investigation...
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