Gay bar wins $670K settlement with feds after owner’s testimony moved courtroom to tears

Court proceedings in a lawsuit brought by a Honolulu gay bar against the city’s Liquor Commission It ended suddenly The verdict was handed down on Tuesday following emotional testimony by one of the co-owners about a pattern of homophobic abuse by inspectors, including physical violence, stalking and death threats.

A surprise settlement awarded $670,000 to bar owner Scarlett Honolulu and a local gay island guide.

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The award comes after years of harassment by Honolulu Liquor Commission inspectors, which led to the owners filing a federal discrimination lawsuit in 2021.

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“It’s becoming very clear that this organization is completely rotten from top to bottom,” said Barr’s founder Robbie Baldwin. Hawaii News Now Not long after the lawsuit was filed.

Baldwin’s assessment was revealed during seven hours of emotional testimony on the stand during a non-jury trial by Scarlet Honolulu co-owner Joseph Luna. Luna shares her story of growing up forced into the closet and of years of anti-LGBTQ+ bias at the hands of HLC, including being shoved around by homophobic inspectors in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions. He said he was exposed to.

“The entire courtroom was in tears, and the judge was clearly paying attention to his story,” said plaintiff Walter Enriquez, owner of Gay Island Guides.

The “false and shallow” testimony of two Honolulu Liquor Commission managers “basically confirms that this was a completely failed organization,” Baldwin said after the settlement.

Corruption runs deep, the plaintiffs said. Mr. Baldwin’s longtime partner, Robert Sobieralski, who has filed numerous public records requests in connection with the case, also saw a death threat scrawled on a wall near the archives with the words “Rob is dead.” It is said that he received it. civil beat.

Scarlett’s co-owner Luna was passing by the site and witnessed the graffiti.

“In a panic, I immediately called for assistance from Robert Baldwin, Rob Sobieralski, and the Honolulu Police Department,” he wrote in a declaration included in the motion.

A whistleblower in the case said investigators on patrol slowed down their vehicles in front of Sobieralski and Baldwin’s homes.

“The repetitive nature of these incidents and the context in which they occurred disturbed me,” he said in a written statement filed with the lawsuit.

Another bar owner who is not a party to the lawsuit, Lanikai Brewing Company founder Steve Haumschild, said the Liquor Commission “led with an iron fist.” After speaking out about the commission’s suspicious behavior, he was tested nine times over a three-month period.

“I can only assume that there is some kind of underlying corruption or gross incompetence,” Haumschild said.

The federal complaint called the commission “an extremely corrupt organization.”

“What I want people to know is never stop fighting for what’s right,” Scarlett co-owner Baldwin said after the settlement. “It’s hard and stressful, but if you keep at it, you can make a difference.”

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