Former Kahuku (Hawaii) High School head football coach Sterling Carvalho was fired in March of this year, and now a judge has denied his preliminary injunction seeking immediate reinstatement to his former position.
According to Hawaii News Now, Carvalho had led the Red Raiders to three consecutive state championship titles and four appearances since he started as head coach in 2018, but he was fired after a parent publicly complained about his son’s playing time. That parent, Kalani K.G. Hallums, posted “terminology that is somewhat abusive” on social media. After Carvalho met with the student-athlete to discuss his playing time, Hallums accused him of threatening the student and creating a hostile environment. Carvalho vehemently denied these allegations.
The Department of Education completed an investigation in the Spring, after which Carvalho was fired.
In July, Carvalho and his attorney, Eric Seitz, filed a lawsuit against the Hawaii Department of Education, superintendent Keith Hayashi, complex area superintendent Samuel Izumi, Hallums and his son. The lawsuit alleged defamation and breach of contract, but Seitz has not publicly confirmed what damages they are seeking.
“This parent apparently did the same kind of things with another son who is at Saint Louis and this same child who was at Mililani,” said Seitz. “He’s a serial abuser and it’s really not something that the DOE should allow, let alone fire a coach over.”
Despite Seitz’s feelings on the matter, a judge on Friday denied Carvalho’s preliminary injunction to be immediately reinstated as head football coach at Kahuku High School. In his ruling, the judge said Carvalho “did not meet the burden of proof to show a likelihood of success or that his termination caused irreparable harm.”
The Kahuku High School Red Raiders football season begins in one week, without Carvalho. In the meantime, he and his lawyer will move forward with the lawsuit.
