HONOLULU-Five
years ago,gunman Byran Uyesugi Shot down seven men at their desks in the Xerox
building. Now, the families of the victims and two survivors have won a
multi-million-dollar out-of-court settlement. Uyesugi was convicted of seven
murders. The men killed in November 1999 were other copier repairmen and a
supervisor, who he believed were sabotaging him.
The immediate
families of the victims were paid settlements by Xerox, but three survivors and
other relatives pressed the case that the shootings could have been prevented.
The families sued
Xerox managers, its security experts and doctors at Kaiser Medical and Castle
Medical Center who treated Uyesugi.
During the
investigation, lawyers found out that after being checked out of Castle, six
years before the shootings, a Kaiser Medical psychiatrist forgot to schedule a
follow-up appointment for Uyesugi and Xerox managers ignored continuing threats.
Uyesugi represented
himself during the lawsuit and was interviewed by lawyers. He still defended the
killings based on his delusions of persecution, but also said he believed he had
no mental problem because the doctors and managers let him keep working.
By settling, the
companies avoid the risk of a huge jury verdict and avoid any official blame.
The settlement
terms are secret, but KITV 4 News has learned it is in the millions of dollars,
but far less than $100 million.