Opinion ID: 783032
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Certification to the Hawaii Supreme Court

Text: 15 The employees contend the district court erred in refusing to certify the duty of loyalty issue to the Hawaii Supreme Court. The decision to certify a question to a state supreme court rests in the sound discretion of the district court. Louie v. United States, 776 F.2d 819, 824 (9th Cir.1985) (internal quotations omitted). In the absence of controlling Hawaii Supreme Court precedent, the district court properly looked to decisions from other jurisdictions, other relevant Hawaii cases, and the Restatement to determine how a Hawaii court would resolve these issues. See Santana v. Zilog, Inc., 95 F.3d 780, 783 (9th Cir.1996). There was no abuse of discretion. 16