our projects
Lawyers for Equal Justice (LEJ) utilizes a variety of tools to serve the low-income community. LEJ currently provides advice and legal assistance to U.S. Veterans, to ensure they receive full veteran's benefts. LEJ conducts important research on housing, income maintenance, consumer and education issues, to identify underlying problems in the community. Finally, LEJ, when necessary, conducts large scale, complex litigation to protect the rights of the low income community.
• Successfully resolved a class action lawsuit against the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) for its failure to permit children who had become homeless from continuing to attend their home school as required by the federal McKinney-Vento Act. The settlement requires the DOE to conduct outreach to homeless families and families at risk of becoming homeless to notify them of their children’s right under the settlement, to pay for transportation costs for the children to attend their original neighborhood school and to facilitate speedy transfer of school records if the parent decides to enroll the child in a different school.
Approximately 2000 homeless children are affected by the resolution. (2007)
Health Care
• Successfully resolved two separate class action lawsuits against the Hawaii Department of Human Services (DHS), ending the department’s attempt to impose severe cuts to health care services for Micronesians legally residing in the state under the Compact of Free Association (COFA). The cases were resolved by the issuance of a TRO and Preliminary Injunction by the Federal District Court in Honolulu finding that the department had violated the Due Process and Equal Protection rights of our clients under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 8000 COFA migrants were directly benefitted by the rulings and received health care benefits worth approximately $20 million. (2009-2010)
Housing
• Successfully resolved a class action lawsuit against the Hawaii Public Housing Authority (HHA) for its long-standing failure to properly maintain the premises of the Kuhio Park Terrace (KPT) The project is the state’s largest housing complex and is comprised of two 16 story towers that contained 618 units. The settlement included requirements for the installation of six new elevators, new garbage chutes and fire alarm system, restoration of reliable hot water and implementation of an appropriate vermin prevention program. The settlement also included $245,000 for rent rebates to the approximately 2000 tenants residing at KPT. (2010)
• Successfully resolved a class action lawsuit against the HHA for its continuous failure to properly respond to requests from disabled tenants for reasonable accommodations under the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The settlement included the implementation of a new policy on providing reasonable accommodations, timeframes for mandated actions and removal of public barriers at KPT and Kuhio Homes. Approximately 300 disabled tenants are affected by the resolution. (2009-2010)
• Successfully resolved a class action lawsuit against the HHA for rent overcharges due to its failure to reduce rents when utility costs increased. The settlement provided for rent rebates amounting to $2.3 million for approximately 3100 tenants and a reduction in future rent payments of approximately $150,000 per month. The settlement also increased monthly utility subsidies to disabled persons who experienced a higher rate of utility usage due to medical equipment required because of their individual disabilities. (2006)
• Successfully resolved a class action lawsuit against the City and County of Honolulu for rent overcharges in the Westlake Apartments because of its failure to reduce rent when utility costs increased. The settlement provided for rent rebates amounting to $45,000 for the 95 tenants in the complex and the benefit of the rent reductions on an ongoing basis. (2009)
• Successfully resolved a class action lawsuit against the Kahuku Housing Foundation for rent overcharges in the Kahuku Senior Housing Project because of its failure to reduce rent when utility costs increased. The settlement provided for rent rebates amounting to $38,000 for the 64 senior citizen tenants in the complex, and the tenants benefit from the reductions on an ongoing basis. The settlement also provided for an end to the retaliatory actions of the owners which included prohibiting the Kahuku Public Library Bookmobile from providing services to tenants and refusal to allow the tenant Resident Council to hold meetings in the project’s Community Center. (2010)
Social Services
• Served as a founding member of the advocacy organization known as PHOCUSED (Protecting Hawaii’s Ohana, Children, Underserved, Elderly and Disabled) which is the primary advocate for health and human services programs and their clients in Hawaii, including completing the incorporation of the organization and obtaining the organization’s 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. LEJ’s Executive Director serves as the organization’s Vice President. In 2010, PHOCUSED was successful in reducing anticipated state cuts in funding for health and human services programs and gaining the release of $23.6 million in additional funding. (2008)
Veterans
• Successfully assisted veterans denied disability compensation by the Veterans Administration (VA) for service related disabilities. Approximately $160,000 has been recovered for our clients because of the wrongful denials by VA. (2008-2010)
Pending
• Filed a class action lawsuit against DHS for its failure to process food stamp applications throughout the state in a timely manner. Delays in providing food stamps have increased significantly during the past 1½ years and more than 20% of current applications are not being processed by the 30 day federal time requirement. The case is directed at helping families who rely on the food stamp program to have their basic nutritional needs met and to prevent the serious health risks posed to them by the DHS delays in determining their eligibility for food stamps. (2010-2011)
• Filed a class action lawsuit against the owner of the 135 unit Jack Hall Waipahu Section 8 housing complex for rent overcharges because of its failure to reduce rent when utility costs increased. (2010)
• Also pending are appeals from certain of the judgments described above.
"Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing the ground." - Frederick Douglass