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NO. 23763 IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I NENITA RETOTAL and BENJAMIN P. SANCHEZ, JR., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. HAWAII BALLROOM DANCE ASSOCIATION, EUGENE ICHINOSE, WILBERT K. SAKAMOTO, ALFRED G. AGBAYANI, JACKIE UYEDA, and ROBERT FUKUMOTO, Defendants-Appellees, and JOHN DOES 1-50, Defendants APPEAL FROM THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT (CIV. NO. 97-3588) MEMORANDUM OPINION Burns, C.J., Lim and Foley, JJ.)

(By:

Plaintiffs-Appellants Nenita Retotal (Retotal) and Benjamin P. Sanchez, Jr. (Sanchez) (collectively Plaintiffs) appeal from the August 24, 2000 Final Judgment entered by Circuit Court Judge Dexter Del Rosario in favor of Defendants-Appellees Hawaii Ballroom Dance Association (HBDA), Eugene Ichinose (Ichinose), Wilbert K. Sakamoto (Sakamoto), Alfred G. Agbayani (Agbayani), Jackie Uyeda (Uyeda), and Robert Fukumoto (Fukumoto) (collectively Defendants). We affirm. BACKGROUND HBDA is a Hawai#i nonprofit corporation started in 1959 by Ichinose and his late wife, Harriet Ichinose. HBDA is

dedicated to uplifting the lives of the people of Hawai#i through the medium of ballroom dance recreation. HBDA is a statewide

organization and, at the time of trial, it consisted of over 20

chapters and approximately 2,500 members.

Telemarks is the

organization of instructors within HBDA and its financial records are part of HBDA's records. Ichinose testified that Telemarks is

an organizational unit with its own officers and, for some purposes, its own money.1

The Bylaws of Defendant-Appellee Hawaii Ballroom Dance Association (HBDA) as of September 9, 1996, in evidence as Exhibit A-43, state as follows: IV. CHAPTERS AND THE TELEMARKS ORGANIZATIONS . . . . 4. The Telemarks organization, establishment and governance. The instructors and instructional staff of this corporation may organize as The Telemarks. The Telemarks may adopt rules and regulations for its governance; provided, that The Telemarks shall always be governed by, and its rules and regulations shall be subject to, the Charter of Incorporation and the Bylaws of this corporation and to such rules, regulations and policies adopted by the membership or the Council of this organization. V. MEMBERSHIP . . . . 2. Classes of membership. There shall be four classes of membership in this organization: regular, associate, life and honorary. a. Regular. A regular member is a dues paying member who is entitled to all rights and privileges of membership, including the right to vote. Associate. . . .

1

b. c.

Life. A life member is a non-dues paying member who is entitled to the same rights and privileges as regular members, including the right to vote. Honorary. . . .

d.

(continued...) 2

Ichinose served as the Dance Director of HBDA from 1959 until his retirement in 1997. since 1991. Retotal has been an HBDA member

Sanchez has been an HBDA member since 1985.

Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS)

Download Retotal v. Hawaii Ballroom Dance Association.pdf

Hawaii Law