Whether the director may have accepted the invitation with air fare and lodgings from the suppliers. Whether the director may have accepted air fare and lodgings for her spouse. Whether the director may have extended the trip. The provision of the State Ethics Code which was considered for application was HRS, section 84-11, on gifts. A gift of air fare and lodgings for an employee and the employee's spouse may be prohibited by HRS, section 84-11 if the gift may be reasonably inferred to be intended to influence or reward the employee's official action.
Official action is defined by the ethics code to mean discretionary action.
In applying this section to the director's circumstances, an inquiry first had to be made as to whether and to what extent the director took official action in regard to the suppliers. The director represented that she took no direct action in regard to the suppliers. For projects undertaken by the department for the State, the department solicited bids from the private sector to carry out the projects. These bidders, not the department, selected the suppliers of products to be used in the projects. The director was not in a position to take official action in regard to the suppliers because the department did not select the suppliers.