WAILUKU >> Maui officials have agreed to pay $350,000 to a retired police captain who claimed in a federal lawsuit she was passed over for a promotion due to sex discrimination.
The 2016 lawsuit was dismissed last month after Mollie Klingman reached the settlement with Maui County, The Maui News reported. Klingman claimed the Maui Police Department discriminated against her when it promoted a male captain to assistant chief in December 2014. Klingman started working for the department in 1987 and was promoted to captain in 2011.
Klingman had more seniority and experience in the department’s Support Services Bureau commanded by the assistant chief than the promoted male captain, the lawsuit claimed. She retired in April 2015 because “her work environment became very difficult for her” after she was not promoted, according to court documents. She left before obtaining maximum benefits.
Maui officials denied the discrimination claims, saying the man who was promoted “performed best in the interview,” according to court filings. The county said it did not consider Klingman’s sex as a factor in the promotion decision.
The county reached the settlement to “avoid the expense, delay, uncertainty, and burden of continued litigation,” according to the agreement. The settlement is not admission of any wrongdoing, and the county “remains committed to provide equal employment opportunity for all employees in county employment,” it said in a statement last week.
Maui County wanted no admission of liability in agreeing to a settlement, said Michael Green, Klingman’s attorney.
“There’s still not a single woman who reached promotion level beyond captain,” Green said. “They need to try harder. The commitment needs to be greater. Actions speak louder than words.”
Airport parking to close overnight
HILO >> The Hilo International Airport parking lot will close from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday this week as the state Department of Transportation starts work drilling and excavating for concrete footings to support a vehicle shelter over the lot exit.
The two exit lanes leading out of the parking lot will be closed overnight following the last scheduled flight of the night.
DOT is advising motorists to vacate the parking lot prior to the nightly closures at 10 p.m. Travelers on extended trips may leave their vehicles overnight as long as they won’t need to exit before 4 a.m.
