Settlement Reached in Mamuad Lawsuit

Neldon Mamuad. Maui Now photo.

By Maui Now Staff

The County of Maui will pay $25,000 in attorneys’ fees and damages under a settlement reached with the American Civil Liberties Union after the group filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Neldon Mamuad over a Facebook page he manages.

While the lawsuit alleged violations of Mamuad’s First Amendment rights, county officials say the lawsuit was limited to Mamuad’s alleged harassment of fellow county employee and Maui Police Officer Keith Taguma.

Mamuad, a former radio personality, had sought a temporary restraining order against the county, and a jury trial, claiming he was being threatened for his speech and conduct on the MauiWATCH Facebook page he operates.

The Facebook page was initially launched under the name TagumaWATCH, and was based on Officer Taguma, who is well-known for his work as a traffic policeman. It was adapted from a radio segment that Mamuad once hosted under the same name.

The county contends that Mamuad, “actively encouraged members of the public to take photos of Officer Taguma, whether he was on-duty or off, and post them to his page.” The county press release further claimed that Officer Taguma stated that he felt Mamuad was continuing a “personal vendetta” against him, this time from his position as an employee of the County of Maui

Cooperating attorney for Mamuad, Marcus Landsberg IV commented in an earlier statement saying that, because Mamuad also serves as a volunteer Liquor Commission chairman, “the county believes it has the right to control everything he does and everything he says in his free time. This is contrary to well settled federal law – public employees don’t give up their free speech rights merely because they work for the government.”

Officer Taguma subsequently filed a formal complaint against Mamuad notifying the county that he felt harassed by Mamuad’s “TagumaWatch” Facebook page, according to county officials.

In August 2013 , administrators of the page posted an online update stating, “These acts by the County of Maui to investigate this page were intended to frighten our fans into chaos and retreat.”

In a press release statement issued by the ACLU today, Mamuad said, “The County violated my free speech rights and wasted taxpayer money by trying to censor the content of MAUIWatch. It took a month of mediation and settlement conferences, but we finally got the County to realize that they were swimming upstream, against well-settled Federal law, and against the Constitution.”

County Communications Director Rod Antone responded on behalf of the county saying, “The County of Maui is pleased that this case has concluded, and that a compromise has been reached; however, the county remains firm in its stance that Mr. Mamuad should not have been allowed to conduct a personal vendetta against Officer Taguma, then proceed to lie about his intent by saying it was all in the name of the First Amendment.”

Antone continued saying, “That sort of blatant disregard for the truth goes against everything the First Amendment stands for in the first place. Certainly the ACLU took this into account, which is why they agreed to settle and we appreciate that.”

Mamuad contends that he, “brought this case to protect my rights and to make sure all other public employees and volunteers can exercise their First Amendment rights as well. Hopefully the county has learned its lesson and realized that the government cannot use its power to quiet opinions it doesn’t like.”

According to a county press release, county officials contend that they, “had a legal obligation to investigate Officer Taguma’s complaint and determined that Officer Taguma had been harassed by Mamuad. The harassment of Officer Taguma was considered to be cyber-bullying via Facebook; Mamuad was required to take a cyber-bullying awareness class as a result of his violation of the county’s anti-harassment policy.”

ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Daniel Gluck, commented in a press release statement saying, “Todayʻs settlement reaffirms that government employees do not sign away their free speech rights just by working or volunteering for the government, period.  Maui County’s employees and volunteers can now express themselves without fear of unconstitutional retaliation.”

According to the ACLU, the county agreed to revise its anti-harassment policy to ensure that employees are entitled to their First Amendment rights outside the workplace.  The county also agreed to disciplinary documentation related to the complaint of cyber-bullying would not be kept in Mamuad’s personnel file.

Under the settlement, the county’s lawyers will also be required to review any complaints of harassment at an early stage.

***NOTE: Mamuad was formerly employed with Pacific Radio Group when he hosted The Big Phat Morning Show along side co-host G-Money. The company has since been renamed Pacific Media Group and owns Maui Now, which is not associated with Mamuad’s operation. Mamuad stopped hosting the radio program in 2007.