Isaac Choy, who remains on unpaid leave from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, has sued named and unnamed HTA officials alleging they retaliated against him for reporting what he called HTA procurement, spending and other violations.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in Circuit Court by Choy — who was HTA’s vice president of finance and acting chief administrative officer — represents the latest drama at HTA, which has the key responsibility for organizing state and private tourism entities and marketing Hawaii as a travel destination.
HTA interim President and CEO Caroline Anderson, whom Choy names as a defendant in his lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. HTA Chair Todd Apo declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The Attorney General’s office had not been served with Choy’s lawsuit by the end of Friday and said it generally does not comment on pending litigation.
Choy’s lawsuit seeks penalties up to $5,000 against Anderson and anyone else at HTA for each alleged violation of “the Hawaii Whistleblowers Protection Act” in what he calls retaliation for reporting violations.
He also wants to be reinstated with back pay, in addition to payment of his attorneys’ fees.
Choy, Hawaii’s former tax director, had worked at HTA since April 2023 and had responsibility for “fiscal supervision of the funds appropriated to the HTA in a manner consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles standards, State budget fiscal requirements, and any regulatory requirement,” among other duties.
Beginning in March 2024, Choy said he began reporting HTA violations to state and HTA officials that continued into February.
In one instance, according to the lawsuit, the state Procurement Office in January 2024 “confirmed that the then-program manager, Caroline Anderson, violated state procurement laws by failing to conduct a proper contract extension and then verbally extending the contract without going through the proper procurement process.”
“Mr. Choy reported his concerns about HTA’s failure to timely and consistently comply with laws, rules, regulations and contracts to the State Legislative Auditor, the State Attorney General, and State legislators, who were conducting investigations or inquiry as part of their legislative duties,” according to the lawsuit.
After Choy alleged improper use of Hawai‘i Convention Center space by then-HTA CEO Mufi Hannemann, Choy’s lawsuit said the Attorney General’s office confirmed in writing that Choy mentioned Hawaii’s whistleblower law in September “as a protection against retaliation for himself and other HTA staff members.”
Then allegations emerged that Choy had made racist and sexist remarks on the job, prompting the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Human Resources on May 9 to direct that he be placed on unpaid leave.
In his lawsuit, Choy said that Anderson on May 9 “delivered a letter to Mr. Choy, stating that Mr. Choy was being placed on administrative leave without pay, and was barred from coming to the HTA offices.”
“At Ms. Anderson’s direction, Mr. Choy was immediately escorted from the HTA offices, on a ‘perp walk’ in front of all HTA employees as if Mr. Choy had been charged with a crime, in an attempt to humiliate Mr. Choy and intimidate other HTA staff members.”
The reasons that Anderson cited in her May 9 letter for placing him on leave “were false, misrepresented and/or grossly overstated, based on hearsay and unsubstantiated allegations,” according to the lawsuit. “The reasons stated in Ms. Anderson’s May 9, 2025 letter were an obvious pretext, to silence Mr. Choy, and to retaliate against Mr. Choy for reporting numerous, serious violations of State laws, rules, regulations, and contracts, including the procurement violations by Ms. Anderson that Mr. Choy had reported. Placing Mr. Choy on leave without pay, without any legitimate basis under State law, was a transparent attempt by HTA and Ms. Anderson to harm Mr. Choy financially and unlawfully coerce him into resigning his position from HTA, to prevent him from providing additional details about the violations of State laws, rules, regulations, and contracts Mr. Choy had reported or was about to report.”
On May 15, Choy sent a letter to Anderson, demanding that “your retaliatory actions cease immediately and that my employment status be restored immediately.”
In the letter, Choy told Anderson that “Your false and reckless statements and retaliatory behavior have not only significantly damaged my reputation and income but also profoundly affected my family.”
Choy served five terms in the House representing Manoa from 2008 through 2018.
