By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

DEPARTMENT of Labor Hearing Officer Barry Hirshbein says a corporate entity involved in a small garment cutting operation is a sham, and he has asked Labor’s Enforcement Section to initiate an agency investigation into the employer’s activities.
J.S. Corp. did not pay a worker’s wages and overtime, but got $770 from that worker as a processing fee.
Moreover, J.S. Corp.’s listed “corporate president, secretary and director” is an alien worker, who has a pending labor complaint against the same company where he is an official, as listed in the 2006 Articles of Incorporation.
An investigation into the labor case found that Rui Kang Ping did not have a contract, temporary work authorization or transfer, to work for J.S. Corp. Rui said he was the manager/supervisor of business operations, and testified that he was the one who paid the workers.
He said he paid them in cash, did not make deductions, and did not keep pay stubs showing the hours worked and any deductions made—all in violation of labor law and regulations.
The labor hearing officer said Rui appears to be both unlawfully employed and unlawfully acting as an employer.
“Rui’s testimony in this case is completely flawed. Lack of credibility is an understatement with respect to Rui. Rui was the de facto employer. The respondent corporation was formed solely for the purpose of creating a ‘front’ for Rui to employ workers in an improper manner…Clearly, the formation of this corporation was a matter of convenience…The corporate entity is a sham. There was no true corporation,” said Hirshbein in an administrative order.
Rui and Kwoon Soon Young, who was listed as J.S. Corp.’s vice president and treasurer, later pointed to the other as the party responsible for these problems.
J.S. Corp. hired an alien worker whose contract stated that she was a commercial cleaner but was told to count production tickets for the company from Aug. 7 to Sept. 20, 2006.
The worker, Gu Lianha, complained that the company did not pay all of her wages and overtime.
Hirshbein, in a six-page order, said Gu is entitled to her full salary and overtime from Aug. 7 to Sept. 20, 2006, less $460 that was actually paid, and liquidated damages in an equal amount.
The labor hearing officer jointly and severally sanctioned J.S. Corp., Rui and Kwon the sum of $2,000 to be paid within 21 days from Feb. 26.
They were also permanently barred from employing nonresident workers in the CNMI.
Hirshbein also directed that a copy of the administrative order become part of Rui’s labor case 04-684 “in order to provide judicial notice of Rui’s illegal employment and conduct as an unapproved employer.”
“The hearing officer recommends that the Labor Enforcement Section initiate an agency investigation into this employer’s activities,” said Hirshbein.