by Andrew Walden
Will HTA bosses destroy the Convention Center Roof in their quest for retaliation?
After being frog-marched out of the building, former HTA VP of Finance Isaac Choy is spilling the beans.
Here are the key passages from a state court lawsuit filed June 12, 2025 by Choy’s attorney, Bruce Voss:
4. In or about April of 2023, HTA hired Mr. Choy as Vice President of Finance….
8. As required by his duties and responsibilities, Mr. Choy investigated and reported numerous, serious violations of State laws, rules, regulations, and contracts to HTA and other State officials and employees, including the following:
9. In or about March 2024, Mr. Choy reported a Space Use Violation at the Convention Center by Mufi Hannemann, Chairman of the HTA Board. This violation of law was validated by the State Legislative Auditor, Leslie Kondo.
10. In or about January 2025, Mr. Choy reported to State of Hawaii Deputy Attorney General John Cole that the Director of the Hawaii State Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (“DBEDT”) had filed a complaint concerning the free sponsorship and advertising that the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association received during the last HTA conference.
11. In or about February 2025, Mr. Choy started investigating the validity of expenses reported by the Hawaii Convention and Visitor Bureau (“HCVB”) for services rendered as part of an Activation campaign in September 2024, as requested by the DBEDT Director James Tokioka.
12. In or about January 2025, Mr. Choy investigated and reported to HTA senior management that the LA Activation Contract was a procurement violation because the program activity spent approximately $1.5 million in State funds without a procurement or contract. HTA’s procurement staff is currently evaluating how to report the violation to the State Procurement Officer.
13. On or about November 20, 2024, Mr. Choy reported to HTA executive Daniel Nahoopii questionable travel expenses that Andrea (Iwa) Kahoohanohano claimed when supposedly shooting commercials for an HTA vendor and charged her travel expenses to the State.
14. Mr. Choy investigated and reported procurement violations by Timothy Gionson to HTA executive Daniel Nahoopii and HTA Board Member Michael White, Chairman of the HTA Administrative and Audit Committee. The violations entailed not having the required training to solicit or manage procurement, which could have disqualified HTA from procuring State contracts.
15. On February 18, 2025, Mr. Choy reported to the State Procurement Officer (“SPO”) a procurement violation by Bishop Museum, procuring computer equipment after the contract was closed.
16. On January 31, 2024, with Mr. Choy’s review and approval, Mr. Choy’s staff reported a procurement violation to the SPO by HTA vendor SMS Research & Marketing Service, Inc. The SPO 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.
17. On March 25, 2025, Mr. Choy reported to the SPO that a procurement violation had occurred by vendor HCVB, program Global Support Services.
18. On February 18, 2025, Mr. Choy reported a procurement violation to the SPO for vendor Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (“CNHA”), Maui Recovery Visitor Education, and Post Arrival Marketing.
19. In or about February 2025, after receiving complaints of non-payment from HTA vendor CNHA, DBEDT Director James Tokioka determined that Kalani Kaanaana had mismanaged the contract. With the concurrence of then-HTA president and chief executive officer Daniel Nahoopii, Mr. Choy was assigned to review the entire contract, cure the numerous contract violations, and make payment to CNHA.
20. In or about January 2025, through interviews with HCVB executive Tom Mullen, at a meeting attended by DBEDT Director Tokioka and HTA Board Member David Arakawa, Mr. Choy discovered that the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau will be charging HTA $780,000 in interest expense for the late payments made by HTA. Mr. Choy reported the violations of contract and resulting claimed interest expense to HTA senior management.
21. 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.
22. The State Attorney General’s office has confirmed in writing that Mr. Choy first told the State Attorney General about the Convention Center space use issue on September 5, 2024, and that at that time Mr. Choy mentioned the whistleblower law as a protection against retaliation for himself and other HTA staff members.
23. On May 9, 2025, HTA Interim President and CEO Caroline Anderson 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.
24. 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.
25. The reasons stated in Ms. Anderson’s May 9, 2025 letter as purported justification for placing Mr. Choy on administrative leave without pay were false, misrepresented and/or grossly overstated, based on hearsay and unsubstantiated allegations. 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.
26. On May 15, 2025, Mr. Choy sent a letter to Ms. Anderson, demanding that “your retaliatory actions cease immediately and that my employment status be restored immediately.”
27. In his May 15, 2025 letter to Ms. Anderson, Mr. Choy recounted the numerous, serious violations of State laws, rules, regulations and contracts he had reported, and stated: “Your placing me on administrative leave without pay is a plain, per se violation of HRS 378-62(1) (A) and (B). Your false and reckless statements and retaliatory behavior have not only significantly damaged my reputation and income but also profoundly affected my family. . . As you know, I am currently leading a significant project to implement the state's repairs and maintenance to the convention center. If your behavior continues, the State of Hawaii will undoubtedly suffer severe financial hardships due to my absence.”
28. Several hours after Mr. Choy sent his May 15, 2025 letter, Ms. Anderson responded by letter to Mr. Choy, without investigating or even inquiring about the many violations of State laws, rules, regulations and contracts Mr. Choy had reported. Despite her obvious conflict of interest as one of the persons who Mr. Choy had reported had violated State procurement law, Ms. Anderson refused to reinstate Mr. Choy to his position with HTA. Ms. Anderson stated that Mr. Choy would remain on administrative leave, without pay, pending a purported “investigation”. Ms. Anderson stated that this “investigation” was being coordinated by the State of Hawaii Attorney General’s office—the same State office to which Mr. Choy had reported some of the violations of State law and contracts….
PDF: COMPLAINT Choy vs HTA First Circuit Court June 12, 2025
COVERAGE:
CB: Top Hawaiʻi Tourism Official Claims Retaliation For Reporting Mismanagement