{"id":2042,"date":"2026-07-01T06:05:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T06:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042"},"modified":"2026-07-01T06:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T06:05:32","slug":"maui-wrestling-coach-sues-hawaii-doe-over-wrongful-termination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042","title":{"rendered":"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section>\n<p>WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) &#8211; A Baldwin High School wrestling coach is suing the Hawai\u02bbi Department of Education, alleging his due process rights were violated after he was removed from his position following anonymous complaints.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2040\">Ocean explorer calls off world-first Pacific expedition, citing safety concerns<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Grant Nakamura returned home to Maui after competing in the 2008 Olympic trials and said he wanted to give back to local youth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI moved home and that was the first thing I wanted to do was open my wrestling club. I started in my garage and we got some good kids. We had some real good kids, won state titles,\u201d Nakamura said.<\/p>\n<p>Nakamura volunteered as a Baldwin High wrestling coach for 10 years before he was hired as head coach in 2024.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<h2>Complaints and removal<\/h2>\n<p>He said he was sidelined last year after the Hawai\u02bbi Department of Education told him it received anonymous complaints claiming he \u201cmay have allegedly created a hostile and unsafe athletics environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nakamura said he repeatedly tried to speak with someone from the department but was not given the opportunity to respond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been almost a year, and I haven\u2019t been heard,\u201d Nakamura said.<\/p>\n<h2>Lawsuit and due process claims<\/h2>\n<p>His attorney, Karen Droscoski, said the department\u2019s handling of the matter violated Nakamura\u2019s right to due process.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2038\">\u2018I was the villain\u2019: Waianae\u2019s Lorenzo Patricio wins World Boxing Cup in China<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe behavior and the conduct of the DOE is just very surprising, and we just want some answers, and it doesn\u2019t seem like they are willing to provide us with any answers or give Grant an opportunity to respond,\u201d Droscoski said.<\/p>\n<p>Nakamura\u2019s contract ends Tuesday. He said he has not been rehired and still does not know the reason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re frivolous allegations, with no merit,\u201d Nakamura said. \u201cThe DOE has a protocol to follow, and they violated my due process. Instead, they should be out there and protecting their coaches and make sure that they\u2019re okay, not violating their rights, and I know it\u2019s happening to multiple coaches in the state. That\u2019s why I\u2019m speaking up.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Next steps<\/h2>\n<p>The Department of the Attorney General said it will not comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have a complaint, it should be looked into 100%. Look into it. Do it,\u201d said Droscoski. \u201cThey\u2019re not. So yeah, we\u2019ll see how this plays out in court,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2036\">30 homes receive water catchment diverters to prevent Kilauea ashfall contamination<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The next court date is scheduled for next year.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Baldwin High wrestling coach is suing the Hawaii DOE, alleging due process violations after he was removed from his job following anonymous complaints. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Baldwin High wrestling coach is suing the Hawaii DOE, alleging due process violations after he was removed from his job following anonymous complaints.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T06:05:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T06:05:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042\"},\"wordCount\":437,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042\",\"name\":\"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T06:05:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2042#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"A Baldwin High wrestling coach is suing the Hawaii DOE, alleging due process violations after he was removed from his job following anonymous complaints.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T06:05:32+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination","datePublished":"2026-07-01T06:05:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042"},"wordCount":437,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042","name":"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-01T06:05:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ef12c9a39b4461d0006989e36eb883c8.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2042#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maui wrestling coach sues Hawaii DOE over wrongful termination"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}