Hawaii
Settlement Aims To Ensure Gender Equality For Student Athletes In Hawaii
Plaintiffs in a landmark lawsuit over the unequal treatment of female athletes at Hawaii’s largest public school welcomed the finalization of a settlement Friday and expressed hope it would lead to fairer accommodations statewide.
In 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of female athletes at Campbell High School against the Hawaii Department of Education and the Oahu Interscholastic Association. Female athletes at the school complained of a lack of locker rooms and travel opportunities for their sports teams.
DOE and OIA entered into a preliminary settlement with the plaintiffs in October. The U.S. District Court upheld that agreement on Friday after no objections were raised during a final hearing on Friday.
The settlement did not seek monetary damages but focused on the need to ensure equal treatment for female student athletes. That includes hiring an independent evaluator to assess Campbell High’s athletic facilities as part of a seven-year compliance plan.
The independent evaluator already has started speaking with female athletes at the high school and completed his first on-site visit of the school in December. The next one will be in the spring. DOE and OIA will be required to upload the reports on their website, according to lawyers in the case.
Ashley Badis, one of the plaintiffs who is now a student at the University of Hawaii Manoa, said she’s most excited about the settlement’s requirement that Campbell High teachers, coaches and students receive training on gender equity in sports.
“I personally didn’t even know what Title IX was until this whole process started,” said Badis, a former member of Campbell’s water polo and swim team. “I just knew something was wrong.”
Title IX is a federal law mandating that male and female athletes receive equal opportunities in school sports, including access to training and medical resources, coaches and locker rooms.
Campbell’s stand-alone locker room for female athletes is still in the construction process. Approximately 15 Hawaii schools only have one locker room that is shared between boys’ and girls’ teams depending on the athletic season, according to DOE.
“It’s very easy to say something is the case on paper,” ACLU of Hawaii legal director Jongwook “Wookie” Kim said. “But then when you actually go onto campus and talk to students or talk to coaches, the situation might be completely different.”
Several provisions in the settlement specifically apply to Campbell, but Kim said he’s hopeful the lawsuit will also address larger Title IX concerns in Hawaii.
Notably, all OIA schools must complete an annual Title IX assessment in order to maintain their membership in the association. More than 20 public schools participate in the OIA.
An independent evaluator will then review schools’ assessments and develop recommendations for the OIA.
Lyle Hosoda, who represented OIA in the case, said the association is dedicated to following the lawsuit’s requirements and working with school athletic directors and principals on Title IX compliance moving forward.
“This is a continuing effort,” Hosoda said during Friday’s hearing.
Elizabeth Kristen, the plaintiffs’ counsel in the case, said she’s hopeful about the settlement’s impact on Hawaii schools, adding that Campbell has made some progress toward improving its athletic program.
The school surveyed students at Campbell and its two feeder schools, Ewa Makai and Ilima Intermediate, to determine girls’ interest in different sports. The results of the survey can help Campbell better plan its athletic programs for girls moving forward, said Kristen, who also serves as director of Legal Aid at Work’s gender equity and LGBTQ+ rights program.
“But each school shouldn’t take six years of litigation,” Kristen said. “So it’s really time for the Department of Education to take proactive measures and fix this across the state.”
Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.
Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.
Hawaii
Girl Scouts of Hawaii need your help to honor fallen veterans this Memorial Day
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Girl Scouts of Hawaii are asking for help preparing lei for veterans’ graves at the state cemetery in Kaneohe.
As they prepare for Memorial Day on May 27, the scouts will be accepting flower donations and help with sewing lei at Windward Mall on May 25th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Suggested donations include plumeria blossoms, bougainvillea, stephanotis, and crown flowers. Stalks of hardy tropical flowers, such as torch ginger and heliconia, will also be accepted (24 inches maximum).
The goal is to honor each of the 10,000 interred veterans.
For more information about Girl Scouts of Hawaii, visit www.gshawaii.org or call (808) 595-8400.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Ratings: NCIS Hawai’i Ends With 2nd-Best Audience of Season
ad
Hawaii
Woman files lawsuit against Hawaii tourism authority over snorkeling dangers
A Michigan woman is warning others after her husband died while snorkeling in Hawaii. She has since filed a lawsuit against their hotel, the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the Hawaii Visitors Convention Bureau.
“There’s barely a minute in my life that goes by that I don’t think about him,” said Patti Johnson.
She says her husband of 38 years, Ray Johnson, was snorkeling with friends during their vacation in Hawaii when suddenly something wasn’t right.
The 64-year-old was keeping his head above water and heading to shore but seemed out of sorts.
“Soon they started yelling, call 911! That’s when I ran to the beach. And I ran — I got onto the beach. They were pulling him out. His head snapped back and I believe at that point he was gone,” Patti recalled.
Medical professionals were unable to resuscitate the 64-year-old. The family said the autopsy ruled it a drowning.
“It didn’t make sense when I received the autopsy report that just said it drowning. And I was like, I was watching him come in. When you’re drowning, I don’t think you’re making your way in. I don’t think you’re talking to the people you’re with,” she said.
The couple had been to Hawaii a half dozen times, and Ray had snorkeled in the islands numerous times, CNN reported.
“He was an experienced swimmer and snorkeler. But in February 2022, while snorkeling off Maui he had trouble breathing. A friend helped him to shore, but he died on the beach,” stated Jay Stuemke, the Johnson family attorney.
Patti said she believes her husband died because of a little-known medical condition called rapid onset pulmonary edema, or ROPE.
It can happen when breathing is restricted, with fluid building up in the lungs, causing a lack of oxygen and sometimes leading to losing consciousness.
“Patients or people who are out snorkeling will notice an increase in shortness of breath is one thing, but then they’ll also become confused,” explained Dr. Meilan Han, chief of pulmonary & critical care medicine at the University of Michigan.
Stuemke says their long flight contributed to Ray’s death.
“What long haul flights do, is it has an effect on your lungs,” she said. “After 3 days you are back to normal, but if you snorkel after that long flight there is a substantial increased risk of death.”
Patti is now suing the resort where she and her husband were staying, along with state and local tourism, alleging they failed to educate the public about the potential dangers of ROPE.
The Johnson family feels all of those groups knew about the dangers of snorkeling after long flights, but did not warn visitors.
“If warnings are effectively communicated, snorkelers can make informed choices about what risks to take,” added Stuemke.
ABC News says all of those organizations declined to comment.
A 2021 study suggests ROPE might be to blame for some snorkeling deaths, with people dying due to lower-than-normal levels of oxygen rather than drowning. However, experts say more research is needed to fully understand if this is the case.
“After flying 10 hours, we would have waited 72 hours. His lungs would have recovered from whatever being in a pressurized cabin does to your lungs,” Patti said.
But even beyond ROPE, the case is shining a light on snorkeling safety.
Drowning is by far the most common cause of death for Hawaiian tourists, with the majority of those deaths happening while snorkeling.
“I don’t want other people to go through what we have gone through and to lose a family member to — lose your husband in this way,” Patti said. “It’s just heartbreaking and it’s avoidable, and so just, you know, just to please be aware of this. Make people aware.”
CNN contributed to this post.
Copyright © 2024 ABC News Internet Ventures.
-
World1 week ago
Russian forces gained partial control of Donetsk's Ocheretyne town
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Challengers Movie Review
-
Politics1 week ago
Dems disagree on whether party has antisemitism problem
-
Politics1 week ago
House Republicans brace for spring legislative sprint with one less GOP vote
-
World1 week ago
At least four dead in US after dozens of tornadoes rip through Oklahoma
-
Politics1 week ago
Anti-Trump DA's no-show at debate leaves challenger facing off against empty podium
-
Politics1 week ago
Stefanik hits special counsel Jack Smith with ethics complaint, accuses him of election meddling
-
News1 week ago
As student protesters get arrested, they risk being banned from campus too