The state of Hawaiʻi is preparing to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a middle school principal who claimed the education department didn’t take safety threats against her seriously and retaliated against her for filing a sexual harassment complaint.

Katherine Balatico began receiving threats over social media in May 2020, when she was the principal at Stevenson Middle School in Honolulu.

In an Instagram post, a Stevenson student threatened to burn down the school and kill Balatico. A month later, Balatico received an email at work from an unrecognized sender who detailed plans to rape her, burn down her home and kill her children. 

According to the lawsuit, the threats continued to escalate over the next eight months, with Balatico receiving emails and phone calls at school from unknown perpetrators threatening to kill her and her family.  

Balatico reported the incidents to the Honolulu Police Department and her supervisors at the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, according to the suit. She also filed a complaint under Title IX — a federal law that prohibits gender discrimination and harassment in schools that receive federal dollars — formally requesting that the department investigate the sexual harassment she said was a part of the emailed threats.

After little happened, Balatico sued the education department in 2022, claiming that DOE didn’t take her safety concerns seriously and failed to protect her family from the threats she faced as a principal. The lawsuit also alleges that department leaders retaliated against her for filing the harassment complaint.

The state now plans to settle the case for $150,000. 

A spokesperson for the education department said the agency can’t comment on Balatico’s case since the settlement still needs to be approved by the Legislature.

Balatico’s attorney Scott Kubota said DOE was slow to develop a safety plan for his client, despite multiple reports of harassment. Once the plan was in place, the department was supposed to provide private security for Balatico and her children until a police investigation was completed.    

But Kubota said the DOE abruptly canceled personal security for Balatico’s children while the police investigation was ongoing, arguing that school administrators and teachers could ensure their safety on campus. Around the same time, the department opened an employee misconduct investigation over allegations that Balatico had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with another DOE employee and was storing alcohol in her office, according to the lawsuit.

Kubota said the allegations against Balatico are untrue, but the department never cleared Balatico of her charges, even though the investigation began in the summer of 2021. The lawsuit alleges that the misconduct investigation was part of DOE’s efforts to retaliate against Balatico for filing her harassment complaint.

Balatico is still a DOE employee, although she has been on medical leave since 2021 because of the stress she experienced from the harassment. If the Legislature and governor sign off on the $150,000 settlement, Balatico said she plans to leave the DOE and start vocational rehabilitation to transition to a new career. 

“I’m really losing a lot,” she said. 

Balatico’s settlement is one of 23 claims involving state agencies that together could cost taxpayers $6.5 million this year. The appropriation bill has passed through the House and is moving through the Senate. 

Kubota said the lawsuit highlights the need for more protocols at the education department to protect employees and help them respond to harassment incidents.

Safety advocates and educators sought legislation this year that would require DOE to formally investigate all reports of harassment and develop more procedures and safety plans supporting school workers.  

The bill failed to pass after it did not receive a hearing in the House Finance Committee. 

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.