A lawyer for Kulani Correctional Facility Warden Ruth Forbes says the state dragged the case out, which will cost taxpayers big money.

A Big Island prison warden who was fired almost a decade ago over allegations of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination is entitled to get her old job back under a court decision last week that could cost state taxpayers $1 million or more.

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a 2017 decision by the Merit Appeals Board that found Kulani Correctional Facility Warden Ruth Forbes should have been suspended for 60 days instead of being fired.

That means Forbes, who was terminated in late 2015, is owed almost 10 years of back pay as well as compensation for lost retirement, vacation and sick leave benefits, according to her lawyer Ted Hong.

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