A Honolulu resident has sued five city council members, arguing a private meal at a restaurant led to a leadership vote that should be thrown out.

• Five council members met at a Zippy's restaurant in October, and the lawsuit claims they discussed council leadership positions behind closed doors.
• The gathering may have violated Hawaii's Sunshine Law, which requires government business to happen in public with notice, testimony, and minutes.
• The five members say the meeting was unplanned and no leadership decisions were made there, but a later public vote is accused of simply formalizing what was already decided in private.
• The lawsuit wants a judge to cancel that vote, force the members into Sunshine Law training, and block them from holding council leadership roles.
• A separate state ethics investigation into the same meeting is still ongoing.

Outlook: The leadership vote stays in place for now, but its fate depends on how the court case and the state investigation play out.