The Intermediate Court of Appeals has ruled that a charter school employee in Hilo violated the state ethics code by ordering and approving purchases for the school from his family businesses and is liable for $10,000 in fines levied by the state Ethics Commission.

In a decision issued Wednesday, the court upheld the Ethics Commission’s Feb. 8, 2013, ruling against William Eric Boyd, an administrative assistant at Connections Public Charter School, for his actions involving the purchase of student lunches and school supplies, including digital camcorders.

The commission found that Boyd had violated the ethics law in 20 instances by acting on behalf of the school as well as his family businesses, which is a conflict of interest. Each violation carried a $500 fine. There were no allegations against the school itself.

Les Kondo, executive director of the commission, said the court affirmed that Boyd’s actions as a Connections employee “violated the minimum standards of conduct required of state employees under the state ethics code.”

“A charter school employee simply cannot be making decisions on behalf of the charter school to buy equipment and supplies from his own private company,” Kondo said Thursday. “Similarly, the employee cannot switch hats and do business on behalf of his own company with the charter school. Both situations are clear conflicts of interests under the state ethics code.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser called Boyd and his attorney, Ted Hong, for comment but did not hear back by close of business Thursday.

Boyd Enterprises supplied the school with lunches for several years, and the Amway business owned by Boyd and his wife, Erika, sold supplies and equipment to the school. Boyd was charged with requesting and approving purchases from the Amway business and for submitting invoices to the school from Boyd Enterprises for school lunches.

Boyd took the case to Circuit Court, which upheld nine of the 20 counts against him. Both sides then turned to the appellate court.

The appeals court ruled entirely in the commission’s favor, upholding the original findings on all 20 counts. It rejected Boyd’s arguments that he wasn’t a state employee, that the commission’s hearing process wasn’t fair and that he didn’t benefit financially from the transactions.

Charter schools are public schools, but they operate somewhat autonomously, reporting to local school boards that are issued charters by the state, and they are exempt from the state procurement code. Charter employees belong to public employee unions and are entitled to state employee benefits. Boyd contended that because he was hired by a local school board, he wasn’t actually a state employee, but the courts rejected that assertion.

“A review of the record indicates that Boyd participated in many of the benefits of being a state employee,” it wrote, noting that he identified himself as a state employee when joining the state retirement plan, health fund and union.

Boyd also claimed that he wasn’t culpable because Principal John Thatcher had final approval over purchases by the school. But the court found that Boyd played a significant role in the school’s decision to purchase from the company he co-owned with his wife, and benefited financially from it.

The appeals court remanded the case, Boyd v. State Ethics Commission, to Circuit Court with instructions to enter final judgment affirming the Feb. 8, 2013, Ethics Commission’s findings and decision.

» To read the decision online, visit bit.ly/1J5f0AL.