Hello All,
I come to you with more information regarding the two lawsuits forming and going forward against the local Honolulu government. Each Lawsuit has its own merit, and I ask you all to read and learn about each suit, their direction, and which may suit you best personally.
Above all, I encourage you as individual owners to recognize your own values and individuality. But, this is a time for unity and a joining of forces to win back our businesses and stay connected, for when the Legislature returns it will return as it always has and start taking care of government first, and pile it back on business, because they know no other method. I fully expect them to raise the minimum wage, multiply the Unemployment fund contribution, raise the GET, raise property taxes, pass a family leave bill, etc., etc..
They will do this to the badly damaged survivors who will not have the ability to pay these demands and still make a profitable business operate.
Remember both the house and senate passed a .05 BAC bill last year that did not get a final vote only because the legislature shut down. What is to stop them this year? You and only you. Please stay together over the coming year.
Please note that there is an invite to a conference on Tuesday, October 13th, at 3 PM, below – you may need to download the meeting software, so plan to try joining about 15 minutes in advance of the meeting.
–Bill
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Hawaii Small Business Bill of Rights: (Attached at the end of this post.)
I am also including an attachment you as bar owners should read and own. All small businesses should demand Hawaii’s compliance. It is the Hawaii Small Business Bill of Rights. It is something that Hawaii’s government has proclaimed but does not follow. Learn to hold government to its promises.
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Now to the two Lawsuits,
You can join either suit, and I recommend you join both.
Suit #1: The James DiPasquale Action, has some expense but some will be provided by the Hawaii Bar Owners Association (HIBOA) to get the suit in place.
Suit #2: The William Lawson Action, is a much wider suit covering a greater number of effected small business. That suit expects to recover funds from the CARES ACT to cover the expense. It should have a lower cost, but I expect it to have a lesser initial expense but possible awards of expenses to the firm.
Lawsuit # 1 James DiPasquale Action:
The Firm:
James D. DiPasquale, Esq.
Managing Partner
DIPASQUALE & SUMMERS, LLP
james@ds-lawoffices.com | www.ds-lawoffices.com
New York Office:
555 5th Avenue – 14th Floor
New York, New York 10017
(t) (646) 383-4607 Ext. 102
Honolulu Office:
1003 Bishop Street, Suite 1260
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
(t) (808) 240-4771
The Nature of the suit:
Hawaii’s Premier Business & Hospitality Law Firm
Join the Class Action Lawsuit to Reopen Bars and Remove Excessive Restrictions on Restaurants.
Our office has been contacted for purposes of exploring a class action lawsuit against the mayor, governor and attorney general, in which we would seek significant financial damages and an order from the court lifting excessive restrictions on bars and restaurants. The operating prohibition still in place for Hawaii bars (and the unnecessarily excessive restrictions on restaurants) violate their owners’ constitutional rights and put their businesses in jeopardy.
At this time we are encouraging all owners and operators of bars and restaurants looking to join in this class action lawsuit to reach out to James DiPasquale at 808-240-4771 or email at: James@DS-Lawoffices.com.
Goals:
To remove restrictions, recover damages, engage government while CARES ACT funds are still available for compensation.
From Mr DiPaquale:
Everyone on this email has expressed an interest in joining in a lawsuit to reopen bars across the state and eliminate unnecessary operating restrictions. I believe that two approaches may be necessary. The first will be a lawsuit directly on behalf of bar owners for damages with a request for a temporary injunction lifting the closure mandate.
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A second action (or matter) will be for small businesses as a whole, including restaurants, third-party vendors and other businesses impacted by the shutdown. Whether this matter proceeds through litigation or negotiated efforts with State and City officials has not been determined. I have been speaking with Attorney Bill Lawson about this, and we may be working in concert to obtain relief for these businesses.
For the moment, I am asking everyone to complete the attached client intake form so that we can begin identifying parties to these various proceedings. A prompt response would be greatly appreciated. Kindly also forward this form directly to all businesses you know may be interested and ask them to email it back to our office.
Thank you. We will be in touch.
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History:
Successful suit on behalf of Restaurants in NYC
Expense:
The Hawaii Bar Owners Association (HIBOA) will initiate the suit with some funding to get it going.
Each participant may have to ante up a $1000 to $2000 possible ongoing cost. The cost per participant or number of operations will be discussed and brought forward as the suit moves forward.
Participation:
Obviously bar owners and bars of every classification of liquor license. This would include Restaurant license holders as they have been restricted as well.
Please bring your fellow owners to this suit to move it forward. We need 20-30 owners whether their operations are open or closed as members and all are welcome though we may have different individual goals.
Please support the group effort. Any interested parties can contact Bill Comerford at 808-223-3997 or by email at bill@ejlounge.com
Video Conference:
Scheduled Video Conference Call for participants and interested parties.
Meeting Time: 3pm on Tuesday, October 13th.
My office has a dedicated video conference line.
In order to access the meeting, go to:
https://meetings.ringcentral.com/j/3403270822.
If you have never used Ring Central before, you may be prompted to download the app. After doing so, you will be connected into the meeting. You will have the option to use video or just audio.
Best regards
–James
I encourage all to join in this suit as it specific to our bar industry.
Key Contacts:
James DiPasquale
james@ds-lawoffices.com | www.ds-lawoffices.com
Honolulu Office:
1003 Bishop Street, Suite 1260
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
(t) (808) 240-4771
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Lawsuit # 2 William Lawson Action:
The Firm:
Bill Lawson
Law Offices of William H. Lawson
Century Square
1188 Bishop Street, Suite 2902
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 528-2525
Email: bill@hilaw.com
Come visit our website at:
https://HiLaw.com
The Nature of the suit:
As far as the claims that we are currently planning to handle are concerned, we are actually hoping to avoid a lawsuit completely, if possible. We are going to be requesting and insisting that the State and the City allocate adequate Cares Act funding to the small businesses who have been closed down and severely damaged. These businesses were shut down to benefit the community – and now the community needs to take care of these businesses. So far, the legislators and city council members that I’ve communicated with have been very receptive. They are beginning to realize that these businesses have had only a small bone or two thrown to them so far (PPP and the Hawaii Business Relief Program).
I know that many of the small businesses have been severely damaged financially and that they don’t have funds to be spending on lawyers and experts right now. I’m not looking to get rich off of this. I’ve been opposed to the extent of the lockdowns since the beginning (which is why we met at one of the earliest rallies at the State Capitol). So, I’m mainly hoping to help the small businesses get going again and to help them to get some compensation in their pockets.
I’ve contacted an economist, Tom Loudat, who does business evaluations to help us to value the losses of the small businesses involved. These injuries include (1) the 7+ months of past lost income (with many expenses still accruing) until the businesses are allowed to reopen and they also include (2) the losses which will be suffered in the future – from the time that the businesses are allowed to reopen until they can get their operations back up to pre-Covid operating levels. If you have an economist who has estimated your losses, please let me know. Otherwise, I was thinking that perhaps you would be a good candidate to be the first business to allow and assist Tom to estimate the losses in your businesses (4 locations as I recall?). The losses may in some cases be partially offset by PPP funds and/or by funds from the Hawaii Business Relief Fund (which was typically giving out $10,000 and is primed to give out another $10,000 to certain qualified applicants).
There will be some expert fees, some attorneys’ fees and some other expenses. I’ve been thinking that perhaps the prospective clients can put aside a portion (perhaps 10%) of the Cares Act and additional funds that we are able to obtain for them in order to cover the fees and costs of pursuing the claims. That’s the best that I’ve come up with so far. How does this sound to you? Reasonable? This way the businesses would not have to come up with any funds right now. And hopefully my law practice will not go bankrupt over this.
Goals:
Claims we are currently planning to handle are concerned, we are actually hoping to avoid a lawsuit completely, if possible. We are going to be requesting and insisting that the State and the City allocate adequate Cares Act funding to the small businesses who have been closed down and severely damaged. These businesses were shut down to benefit the community – and now the community needs to take care of these businesses. So far, the legislators and city councilmembers that I’ve communicated with have been very receptive. They are beginning to realize that these businesses have had only a small bone or two thrown to them so far (PPP and the Hawaii Business Relief Program).
History:
We are organizing a group of businesses and others to seek to modify the Covid-19 lockdown orders of the C&C of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii. We would like to invite your participation and that of the members of your group, the Hawaii Bar Owners Association.
As you can see from the emails below, we have a Zoom conference arranged with Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi for Tuesday Oct. 6 th at 11:00 am. I would like for you to attend, if possible.
Attached is the 66 page County of Butler v. Wolf decision of Federal District Court Judge William Stickman IV in Pennsylvania that I’m sure that you have heard about. That case involved 3 aspects of Pennsylvania’s lockdown: (1) restrictions on gatherings, (2) orders closing “non-life-sustaining” businesses, and (3) orders directing healthy Pennsylvanians to stay-at-home. All 3 aspects of Pennsylvania’s lockdown were struck down.
At present we are looking at about 6 pretty clearly overbroad aspects of the lockdown here in Hawaii. These are:
• churchgoers & worshippers denied the chance to get together
• healthy travelers required to quarantine 14 days
• small businesses not allowed to open – including stand-alone businesses, retail stores, stores inside malls, restaurants, mom & pop stores, bars, fitness centers, nail salons, barbers, hair salons, etc.
• beachgoers not allowed to use the beaches
• parkgoers and hikers excluded from parks and trails, and
• healthy people who are not sick but who are nevertheless told to stay at home/quarantine.
The Pennsylvania case clearly addressed item 3. above. That will be our largest group by far. It is also the group that is likely to receive CARES act payments from currently unallocated Federal funds and which may also receive additional funds from the additional Federal bailout currently before Congress.
We are in the process of preparing to send letters to the governor and the mayor (and the press) requesting that these 6 aspects of the lockdown be stopped/modified. We will be requesting additional meetings. If we can eliminate the overreach, we may not need to file suit. If we can’t, then we plan to file suit in Federal court and requesting immediate relief – along the lines of the attached County of Butler v. Wolf decision. Our claims will be based upon the denial of constitutional rights and civil liberties under 42 USC section 1983 and the US and State of Hawaii Constitutions – just like in the Pennsylvania case.
Are you interested in coming along side our efforts? We are gathering together a large group of small businesses who have been financially destroyed by the lockdown like your own. You and you colleagues are entitled to relief – especially since your losses were caused to benefit the greater good of our community.
Expense:
There will be some expert fees, some attorneys’ fees and some other expenses. I’ve been thinking that perhaps the prospective clients can put aside a portion (perhaps 10%) of the Cares Act and additional funds that we are able to obtain for them in order to cover the fees and costs of pursuing the claims. That’s the best that I’ve come up with so far. How does this sound to you? Reasonable? This way the businesses would not have to come up with any funds right now. And hopefully my law practice will not go bankrupt over this.
Participation:
Video Conference Reports: 1
Held on Thursday with Council member Heidi Tsuneyoshi
1 Bill Lawson
Our meeting was very productive with Councilmember Tsuneyoshi. She clearly is concerned about the challenges faced by the small and mid-sized businesses here in Hawaii. She is prepared to craft a resolution to assist us and to submit it to the City Council.
By next Monday 10/12 we have agreed to submit our proposals as to (1) what rules changes are needed to permit responsible small businesses to operate safely without interruption in the Covid-19 environment going forward (and avoid the tiered system with its uncertainties and expenses) and (2) what additional compensation should be allocated from the Cares Act to small businesses and who it should benefit.
Perhaps Steve and Gary can submit their proposals in the next day or so and then we can all chime in over the weekend to create a final product. It would be best if we can get substantial agreement before we submit the proposals to Councilmember Tsuneyoshi – so that we are pretty much on the same page.
I’ve attached a pdf file about recent efforts by Ryan Tanaka of Island Business Management to get more Cares Act funds for businesses in Hawaii – in large part to pay commercial rents. I’ll be trying to contact Ryan Tanaka to see if he will join us.
— Bill Lawson
2: Steven Haumschild
Hi All,
Here are my talking points from the meeting today:
(1) What rules changes are needed to permit responsible small businesses to operate safely without interruption in the Covid-19 environment going forward (and avoid the tiered system with its uncertainties and expenses)
(SH) The system already exists for many businesses that register with the Department of Health. Green/Yellow/Red placards system could be deployed to all businesses INCLUDING “essential” ones. The city needs to deploy educational experts to assist businesses in understanding the proclamations. Most heavily regulated businesses like restaurants, salons, etc are experts in sanitation and safety since its part of their business requirements. These businesses need to be able to remain open. If the business is not compliant, lead with education first. If they repeat, shut them down. Good players need to be incentivized to be open and no business should “pay for the sins” of the bad actors. All kamaaina businesses need to be open if we can kickstart tourism. Why are our islands open for visitors but not for local businesses? Who will educate our island visitors of Hawaiis “Tiered” process if local businesses cannot get straight answers? We need to focus on EDUCATION FIRST, enforcement second. The business should not be responsible for managing tourists behavior. The tiered system had obviously no feedback or contact to business owners. There needs to be a consortium of business owners that are at the table for discussion so real impact and solutions can be drafted, not arbitrary tiers that are seemingly designed to punish businesses for actions of tourists. The Tiers seem to have political motivation since there is no real way with increasing tourism we will likely get out of Tier 2. Even when we get to Tier 4 and have 1 theoretical case for the city, bars are still closed?
Businesses that must manage perishable inventory (restaurants, florists, etc) can’t handle the ping pong approach to opening and closing with the tiers bouncing back and forth. The investment costs to reopen only to be shut with 1 days notice is doing significantly more harm than good.
Finally, the tiered approach has not layer for tourism. So case counts could be rising exponentially because of tourism increase, but the local businesses are the ones that are punished for actions out of their control. If there is no carrying capacity for tourism as part of the tiers, why should local businesses be treated subservient to tourism? Actions like what we have had over the last 7 months are causing a mass exodus of entrepreneurs and job makers that will see a serious void in the future. There is disincentive to be a business owner in Hawaii.
(2) what additional compensation should be allocated from the Cares Act to small businesses and who it should benefit.
(SH) Local businesses are at the final tipping point managing 2-3 shutdowns and reopens (depending on industry). Now we are staring down the barrel of tiers that look to punish businesses for things completely out of their control. The businesses that are still holding on are a financial disaster driven strongly from the inability to cover its bills with generally rent being one of the major expenses. CARES act funds should support those businesses that are holding on. Cover AT LEAST 3 months of their rent expenses directly to their landlords and 3 months of any employee costs they had (like covering employee health insurance). If a business is operating at 25% capacity, use CARES act funds to cover 75% of their rent/employment expenses.
The true Aloha in these islands is in the people and the land. Local businesses take great pride in their companies and employees. If local businesses are not immediately considered essential since we supply so many job and manage the tourism population, we will be on a crash course to bankruptcy with that responsibility falling on the policy makers.
‘Okole Maluna,
Steven Haumschild
Key Contacts:
Bill Lawson
Law Offices of William H. Lawson
Century Square
1188 Bishop Street, Suite 2902
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone (808) 528-2525
Email: bill@hilaw.com
Come visit our website at:
https://HiLaw.com
Steve Haumschild
steve@lanikaibrewing.com
808-295-7303
CEO & Brewmaster
Certified Cicerone®
Lanikai Brewing Company, Island Inspired™ Craft Beer
Brewery @ 175-C Hamakua Dr, Kailua, HI 96734
Tap & Barrel @ 167 Hamakua Dr, Kailua, HI 96734 everyday 11a-10p
Client-Intake-Form