Sakaguchi v. University of Hawai'i

── Sakaguchi v. University of Hawai'i ── Court: Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals Date: April 14, 2026 Category: General NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER Electronically Filed Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX 14-APR-2026 07:51 AM Dkt. 97 MO NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I ANN SAKAGUCHI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI#I; DENISE KONAN, individually and in her capacity as Dean of the University of Hawai#i at Mânoa College of Social Sciences, Defendants-Appellees, and DOE INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES 1-10, Defendants APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 1CC181000321) MEMORANDUM OPINION (By: Nakasone, Chief Judge, Hiraoka and Wadsworth, JJ.) Ann Sakaguchi appeals from the Final Judgment for the University of Hawai#i (UH) and Denise Konan, entered by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit.1 We hold: (1) Sakaguchi's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress was barred by the exclusive remedy provision of the Workers' Compensation Law; (2) claims based on separate, distinguishable violations of the Hawai#i Whistleblowers' Protection Act (HWPA) that occurred over two years before she sued were time-barred, but claims for alleged violations that occurred within the two years before she sued, and her claims for pay differential and earning disparity beginning two years before she sued, were not time-barred; (3)(a) her claim for not being named department chair was not subject to 1 The Honorable Dean E. Ochiai presided.  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER a collective bargaining agreement and should have been allowed, but only for pay differential beginning two years before she sued, and (b) her earning disparity claim was subject to a collective bargaining agreement, but should have been allowed under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 378-66(b), and limited to disparity beginning two years before she sued; and (4) the Circuit Court did not err by granting summary judgment for UH on claims (other than for pay differential and earning disparity) based on alleged HWPA violations that occurred within two years before she filed her complaint. We affirm the Final Judgment in part and vacate it in part, and remand for further proceedings. I. BACKGROUND Sakaguchi sued UH and Konan on February 28, 2018. Konan was sued as an individual and as Dean of the University of Hawai#i Mânoa College of Social Sciences. Sakaguchi's amended complaint asserted four claims: (1) violation of HRS § 378-62 (part of the HWPA); (2) tortious interference with prospective economic/business advantage; (3) interference with prospective contractual relations; and (4) intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED). Claims 2 and 3 were dismissed by stipulation. In a series of orders, the Circuit Court dismissed or entered summary judgment against Sakaguchi on Claim 1 (HWPA) and Claim 4 (IIED). The Final Judgment was entered on October 9, 2023. This appeal followed. Only the HWPA and IIED claims against UH are at issue.2 II. POINTS OF ERROR Sakaguchi contends3 the Circuit Court erred by: (1) dismissing her IIED claim based on the workers' compensation exclusive remedy statute, HRS § 386-5; (2) dismissing her "Pre- 2 Sakaguchi has not appealed the summary judgment on her HWPA claim, or the dismissal of her IIED claim, a