HONOLULU -- The chief investigator at the Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office said "sloppy work" by some investigators on staff has resulted in "botched death investigations."

The investigator has also filed a personnel complaint against her boss, Medical Examiner Dr. Kanthi De Alwis, claiming sex and age discrimination. De Alwis denies those charges.

Investigators for the Medical Examiner's Office are responsible for investigating death scenes, talking to family and witnesses, taking photos and measurements and giving that information to the medical examiner's doctors, who then determine the manner and cause of death.

"We have only one chance, one chance to do this. And if we screw up, we're going to lose it," Chief Investigator Susan Siu said.

Siu is the chief investigator at the medical examiners office, where she has worked for 21 years. She said some sloppy and inexperienced investigators have botched recent death investigations.

Case in point: A man visiting from Korea fell or jumped to his death off a Kapiolani Boulevard apartment penthouse last September. De Alwis and police initially determined it was an accidental death; that he fell off the penthouse lanai while standing on a folding chair while moving a power strip.

"In this case, it was a poor investigation. That's what she based her findings on," Siu said.

But, Siu said the investigator from her office who handled the case, failed to take accurate measurements and didn't take enough photos of the death scene.

Both police and insurance investigators later determined the man committed suicide. Sources familiar with the case said the man had terminal cancer and had stopped all treatment. He came to Hawaii from Korea on a visa that expired the day after he died. He'd been denied a visa extension. Also, his accidental death insurance for tens of thousands of dollars would have expired the next day.

"I agreed with the insurance agent. I agreed with the homicide detective. And (De Alwis) was very upset about that. And (De Alwis) told me to call the homicide detective and tell her how upset she was with her, and I refused to do that."

De Alwis told KITV she did not find a "preponderance" of evidence to suggest suicide since the man's family said he didn't talk about suicide and he did not leave a note.

Sources said police and insurance company investigators found the folding chair the man stood on was closer to the railing than it needed to be, also, the chair had not fallen over and it was facing toward the railing, strongly suggesting suicide.

Sources familiar with the case said De Alwis refused to reconsider her "accidental death" finding even with additional information provided by investigators this past summer. But, just this week, De Alwis told KITV that as a result of our inquiries -- she's scheduling a meeting with police and insurance investigators to discuss this case.

And she said, "As a team, my department produces excellent work."