Jessica K. Hashimoto v. Bank of Hawaii

Jessica Hashimoto appeals the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Bank of Éawaii (the Bank) and its codefendants in her action for wrongful discharge and breach of contract. The basis of the judgment was preemption by the Employees Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 , et seq. We agree in that conclusion but also hold that Hashimoto’s complaint should be recharacterized as an ERISA claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1140 . We remand for trial on this basis.

PROCEEDINGS

On January 10,1991 Hashimoto began this case in a Hawaii state court with a complaint alleging that the Bank and Duane D. Feekin and Judith Wetzel and other employees of the Bank had violated the Hawaii Whistle Blowers’ Protection Act, Haw.Rev.Stat. §§ 378-61, et seq. Section 378-62 states:

Hashimoto asserted that several times between April 1989 and October 12, 1990 she had complained.to Feekin and Wetzel about “potential and/or actual violations by the Bank of the reporting and disclosure requirements and fiduciary standards of ERISA.” Specifically, she noted that Feekin had directed her to reimburse a former employee from a profit-sharing plan for taxes that Hashimoto had “properly…