Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 11, 1 November 2022 — Kalima v. State of Hawai'i What You Need to Know About the Lawsuit [ARTICLE]

Kalima v. State of Hawai'i What You Need to Know About the Lawsuit

This year, the State of Hawai'i agreed to settle Kalima v. State ofHawai'i, a decades-old class action lawsuit, and pay $328 million to more than 2,700 class members with valid claims. The class members, also known as plaintiffs, who are part of the lawsuit are Hawaiian Home Lands Trust beneficiaries who filed a elaim with the Native Hawaiian Claims Panel prior to 1995 for breaches of the trust they encountered between Aug. 21, 1959, and June 30, 1988. The court has preliminarily certified the settlement and will be asked to give final approval on April 14, 2023. Class members with valid claims who did not already settle or opt out of the lawsuit will be eligible for a payment from the settlement. A History of the Settlement In 1988, the legislature passed a law allowing Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries the right to sue for breaches to the trust that they encountered that year and onward. But the law did not address how beneficiaries could sue for breaches to the trust prior to 1988 and dating back to 1959, when Hawai'i heeame a state. The governor was tasked to eome up with a plan to resolve prior breaches of trust, and a claims process was established in 1991. These breaches of trust included waiting list claims with other aspects, such as lost applications, as well as issues that were raised about fairness. The Native Hawaiian Claims Panel was created to address these claims. However, the state eliminated the panel in 1999 before the work was completed. The Native Hawaiian Claims Panel had finished reviewing 53% of the claims, whieh included conducting hearings for many of them, but the state chose not to continue with the process. The class action lawsuit, Kalima v. State ofHawai'i, was filed in 1999 because the state did not allow the claims panel to complete its work and settle the claims. Who is Entiled to a Settlement Payment? Plaintiffs are entitled to a settlement payment if they filed a valid breach of trust elaim with the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel on or before Aug. 31, 1995. The breach of trust must have occurred between Aug. 21, 1959, and June 20, 1988. Individuals who opted out of the lawsuit, or have already settled their elaim, are not included in this settlement. If you are a settlement class member, no action is necessary at this time, but be sure your contact information is current. Nearly 1,000 deceased class members are part of this

lawsuit. Relatives of a deceased settlement class member will need to designate a person to represent the family and serve as point of contact. Any money paid to a deceased person will ultimately have to go through probate court to be distributed to the heirs. ■