Under pressure from attorneys representing Civil Beat and Hawaiʻi News Now, the City and County of Honolulu on Tuesday released a letter sent by former police chief Joe Logan in June demanding more than $780,000 in payment for what he says was a wrongful termination.
Logan announced his retirement in June under pressure from Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and filed a lawsuit against the mayor and city last week for whistleblower retaliation and infliction of emotional distress.
The city initially refused to release the demand letter Logan sent on June 25 despite public records requests from the two news outlets. The city’s Corporation Counsel shared it with the news organizations late Monday night after the Public First Law Center objected in a letter stating that settlement proposals involving government agencies are public records under state law and threatening legal action if the city did not comply by Aug. 4.
In his demand letter, Logan requests $534,000 in wages he would have earned in the final two years of what was supposed to be a five-year term as chief. Logan was appointed chief in 2022. He also demands $250,000 in compensatory damages for “emotional distress, harm to reputation, other special damages and money for his attorneys’ fees.”…