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Nelson v. University of Hawaii12/11/2001
tire statute and construe it in a manner consistent with its purpose. Korsak v. Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, 94 Hawai'` 297, 303, 12 P.3d 1238, 1244 (2000) (quoting Gray v. Administrative Director of the Court, 84 Hawaii 138, 148, 931 P.2d 580, 590 (1997)).
"Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other. What is clear in one statute may be called upon in aid to explain what is doubtful in another." Credit Assocs. of Maui, Ltd. v. Brooks, 90 Hawai'` 371, 373, 978 P.2d 809, 811 (1999) (citations omitted); see also HRS § 1-16 (1993). This court may also consider " he reason and spirit of the law, and the cause which induced the legislature to enact it . . . to discover its true meaning." HRS § 1-15(2) (1993).
The workers' compensation law covers employees who suffer "personal injury either by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment or by disease proximately caused by or resulting from the nature of the employment[.]" HRS § 386-3(a) (Supp. 2000). Generally, the workers' compensation scheme serves to bar a civil action for physical and emotional damages resulting from work-related injuries and accidents. See Furukawa v. Honolulu Zoological Soc., 85 Hawaii 7, 18, 936 P.2d 643, 654, reconsideration denied, 85 Hawaii 7, 936 P.2d 643 (1997); HRS § 386-5. HRS § 386-5, the exclusive remedy provision, provides as follows:
Exclusiveness of right to compensation; exception. The rights and remedies herein granted to an employee or the employee's dependents on account of a work injury suffered by the employee shall exclude all other liability of the employer to the employee, the employee's legal representative, spouse, dependents, next of kin, or anyone else entitled to recover damages from the employer, at common law or otherwise, on account of the injury, except for sexual harassment or sexual assault and infliction of emotional distress or invasion of privacy related thereto, in which case a civil action may also be brought. (Emphasis added.)
Defendants contend that the foregoing exception applies only to claims based on intentional conduct and that the legislature did not intend to allow plaintiffs to pursue claims based on negligence. The plain language of the statute contains no such distinction or limitation. However, where there is doubt, this court may look to the legislative history of a statute to aid in its interpretation. See Gray, 84 Hawaii at 148, 931 P.2d at 590.
HRS § 386-5 was amended in 1992 to include an exception to the exclusive remedy provision of the workers' compensation law for certain claims related to sexual harassment and sexual assault. See 1992 Haw. Sess. L. Act 275, § 2 at 722. Prior to this amendment, in Lui v. Intercontinental Hotels Corp., 634 F. Supp. 684 (D. Haw. 1986), the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii had interpreted the exclusive remedy provision to bar civil actions premised on sexual harassment or sexual assault in the employment context. Id. at 688; see also Furukawa, 85 Hawaii at 18, 936 P.2d at 654 (discussing the 1992 amendments). Faced with the foregoing interpretation of HRS chapter 386 and concerns about the procedural limitations contained in HRS chapter 378, which prescribes unlawful discriminatory practices, the legislature passed Act 275. See Hse. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 21, in 1992 House Journal, at 799 ("[HRS § 386-5] has been interpreted as barring a civil action premised on sexual harassment or sexual assault in an employment context. This bill would permit the filing of such an action[.]"); Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 2588, in 1992 Senate Journal, at 1155; see also Furukawa, 85 Hawaii at 18, 936 P.2d at 654 (discus
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