Opinion ID: 4405250
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Director

Text: Coca-Cola appealed the Recommended Decision to the Director of the Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (the Director). Coca-Cola again argued that the plain language of HRS § 378-32(2) did not prevent it from hiring a replacement nor did it require the company to return Josue to her pre-work related injury position. Specifically, Coca-Cola argued that the “[s]olely because” language in the statute meant that the work injury must be the only reason for the employment action, and here the reason for not reinstating Josue was that a replacement was hired due to the business hardship inherent in requiring other employees to perform the duties of the position while Josue was absent. (Citing Fergerstrom v. Datapoint Corp., 680 F. Supp. 1456, 1459 (D. Haw. 1988).) Thus, Coca-Cola concluded, the Recommended Decision was clearly erroneous because the company’s failure to return Josue to her prior 7 FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER position was motivated by legitimate, business concerns. The Director, in his Decision and Order, noted that when the legislature added the term “discriminate” to HRS § 37832(2) in 1981, it made unlawful the practice of reassigning an employee to a position with other duties at a lower rate of pay after the injured employee returned to work. (Citing S. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 782, in 1981 Senate Journal, at 1249.) Here, the Director stated, Josue was not returned to her pre-injury position, but instead was offered other positions that were either downgrades or positions for which Josue did not meet the requirements. The Director agreed with the hearing officer that although Coca-Cola should not be required to hold Josue’s position open indefinitely, it could have satisfied its business concerns by filling the position with a temporary employee. By instead hiring a permanent employee to fill Josue’s position, the Director determined, Coca-Cola became unable to return Josue to her pre-injury position “solely because she suffered a work injury in violation of section 378-32.” The Director’s Decision and Order thus adopted the hearing officer’s Recommended Decision that Coca-Cola discriminated against Josue solely because of her work injury when it failed to return her to the position that she held at the time of her injury.