Less than a week before Maui wildfire anniversary, Hawaii governor announces $4 billion settlement

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Less than a week before the one-year anniversary of the Maui wildfire, Gov. Josh Green on Friday announced a historic $4 billion global settlement.

Green’s office said the seven defendants will pay $4 billion to provide compensation to those who brought claims for compensation following the wildfires, including roughly 2,200 parties who filed lawsuits.

SPECIAL SECTION: MAUI WILDFIRES

“This global settlement of over $4 billion will help our people heal,” Green said, in a statement. “My priority as governor was to expedite the agreement and to avoid protracted and painful lawsuits so as many resources as possible would go to those affected by the wildfires as quickly as possible.”

The defendants include:

• State of Hawaii
• Maui County
• Hawaiian Electric
• Kamehameha Schools
• West Maui Land Co.
• Hawaiian Telcom
• Spectrum/Charter Communications

“I think here was a commitment from the courts, the defendants the plaintiffs to figure out a way to get as much compensation as possible of the victims of the fires as quickly as possible,” said attorney Jesse Creed of the law firm Panesh Shea Ravipudi LLP. Creed represents about 900 fire survivors.

In its statement, Hawaiian Electric Company, whose power lines are believed to have fallen in high winds and sparked the fires, will pay $1.9 billion — about half of the total settlement.

“Achieving this resolution will allow all parties to move forward without the added challenges and divisiveness of the litigation process,” said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric, in a statement. “It will allow all of us to work together more cohesively and effectively to support the people of Lahaina and Maui to create the future they want to see emerge from this tragedy.”

“It appears that it will keep them out of bankruptcy, which I think is an important issue,” said Henry Curtis of the environmental group Life of the Land. “And making sure the money gets to the victims is the most important thing.”

Other defendants will divide up the other half of the settlement fund.

“We won’t know how much each person will get from the $4 billion,” said Creed. “What we do know right now is that there’s approximately ten thousand people who are represented by lawyers. I ‘m sure there’s many more people who are not represented by lawyers.”

The settlement will mean payments for the victims could come in the middle of next year without the victims having to endure the time and expense of a trial.

“They don’t have to go through litigation for years and years and years and the process of going to trial,” said Creed. “That’s a lengthy, expensive, traumatic process.”

“It’s great that they are doing something and that they are doing something, whatever comes out of it,” said Lahaina wildlife survivor Sanford Hill, 73. He lived in Hale Mahaolu Eono, a low-income senior housing complex where management said seven people died.

While he appreciates the settlement, Hill still wants to know what happened.

“By giving us even the four billion, they’re admitting they’re at fault. And the only thing we’re talking about is how much they’re at fault and how much it’s worth,” Hill said.

“We need to accept it and hope they give us something that is respectable enough that we’d be happy with,” he added.

This settlement, a class action, resolves approximately 450 lawsuits filed over the deaths and destruction caused by the fires.

Green said the state of Hawaii would contribute to the settlement in addition to its $65 million contribution to the One Ohana Fund.

The proposed settlement is an agreement in principle, the governor said, and a final settlement agreement still needs to be signed. Once signed, it will take effect after judicial review and approval.

It’s expected that many more people and businesses file claims against the settlement over the next year, until the statute of limitations expires.

“This was an extraordinary and unprecedented effort by many people to address the tragic impacts of the wildfires in less than a year,” Green said. “Resolving this so quickly shows how Hawaii is different, how we come together in times of crisis to heal together as a community.”

Hawaii News Now reporters Daryl Huff and Mahealani Richardson contributed to this report.

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