Month: September 2019

Saipan Tribune|June 2019|Labor case vs IPI, its two contractors can proceed

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The federal district court on Saipan decided yesterday to allow the forced labor and human trafficking claims of seven Chinese construction workers against casino operator Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC and its two contractors to proceed.

The case, Wang, et al. v. Gold Mantis Construction Decoration (CNMI), LLC, et al., 18 Civ. 0030, involves claims arising from the plaintiffs’ work on the Imperial Pacific casino and resort project on Saipan.

The first amended complaint brings claims for forced labor and human trafficking under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and the CNMI Anti-Trafficking Act, as well as claims under CNMI law for the physical injuries the plaintiffs suffered on the project.

Plaintiffs are seeking monetary compensation for their injuries and pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages. Each of these claims is brought against the three defendants in the case: Imperial Pacific International, MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co., and Gold Mantis Construction Decoration (CNMI), LLC.

Imperial Pacific International is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based company, Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited.

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April 2019|U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SECURES $3.3 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST SAIPAN CASINO DEVELOPER FOR SYSTEMIC WAGE VIOLATIONS BY CONTRACTORS

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SAIPAN, CNMI – The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a $3,360,000 consent judgment against the developer of the Imperial Pacific Resort Hotel and Casino in Garapan, Saipan, for minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by contractors working on the construction project.

Entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, the judgment orders Hong Kong-based Imperial Pacific International Holdings, and its Saipan subsidiary Imperial Pacific International (CNMI), to pay $3,160,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to approximately 1,100 employees. The developer must also pay $200,000 in civil money penalties.

The settlement follows an investigation by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division that found wage violations occurred when foreign-based construction subcontractors failed to pay their workforce required overtime premium rates for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Investigators also found some of the subcontractors’ day rates placed employees’ earnings below federal minimum wage.

“This judgment demonstrates the U.S. Department of Labor’s strong commitment to ensuring employees receive the wages they have earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu, Hawaii. “We will continue to enforce the law and level the playing field, while simultaneously encourage employers and employees to call us for assistance, and use the wide variety of tools we provide. Violations like those found in this investigation can be avoided.”

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March 2018|U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR INVESTIGATION FINDS $13.9 MILLION DUE TO THOUSANDS OF CHINESE EMPLOYEES WORKING ON SAIPAN CASINO AND HOTEL

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HONOLULU, HI – The U.S. Department of Labor has finalized a series of settlements with contractors on Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that will pay a collective $13.9 million in back wages and damages to thousands of employees who came from China to build the Saipan Casino and Hotel on the island.

Investigators with the Department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the foreign-based construction contractors paid their workforce less than the minimum wage and overtime pay required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Four China-based construction contractors – MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co., Beilida New Materials System Engineering Co. Ltd., Gold Mantis Construction Decoration, and Sino Great Wall International Engineering Co. LLC – have entered into formal agreements to pay $13,972,425 in back wages and liquidated damages to more than 2,400 employees.

MCC, Beilida and Gold Mantis also employed workers brought to Saipan as “tourists” from China under a tourist visa waiver program offered by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. These Chinese “tourists” worked at the casino job site without proper work visas. In addition to being paid in violation of the minimum wage and overtime requirements, these workers also incurred debt of $6,000 or more when they were required to pay their own airfare and recruitment fees prior to their employment on Saipan.

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