JAHID Hossen has sued his former employer, Island Protective Service or IPS, and its principal, MD Nurul Islam Bhuiyan, in federal court, alleging Fair Labor Standards Act violations.
Hossen accuses IPS of not paying him minimum wage, regular wage, and overtime in violation of the provisions of FLSA. He is also alleging breach of contract.
The plaintiff is represented by attorney Cong Nie who asked the District Court for the NMI for an order awarding damages in an amount to be proven at trial.
Nie is also asking for an award for the costs of suit (including reasonable attorney’s fees, if any); and other and equitable relief as the court deems just and proper.
According to the complaint, from April 2016 to September 2020, Hossen was employed by Bhuiyan and IPS on Saipan.
During this period, Hossen worked as a security guard at a hotel in Chalan Kanoa.
The lawsuit alleged that the hours Hossen worked each workweek exceeded 40 hours per week and typically ranged from 53 to 70 hours per week.
Hossen said he was employed by Bhuiyan and IPS under a CW-1 visa, and that he signed written contracts with Bhuiyan and IPS that were submitted by Bhuiyan and IPS to U.S. immigration authorities to process and/or renew Hossen’s CW-1 visa.
Hossen said the contracts stated that he would be paid the federal minimum wage and overtime pay at the rate of 1.5 times the federal minimum wage.
However, Bhuiyan and IPS did not pay Hossen in accordance with those contracts or the FLSA, the lawsuit alleged.
“Bhuiyan and IPS initially paid Hossen only the rate of $3.75 per hour for both regular hours and overtime and gradually increased this rate to $4.00 per hour in 2017, $4.50 per hour in 2018, and $5.00 per hour in 2019 and 2020 — always below the applicable federal minimum wage and always without the required increase for overtime hours,” the lawsuit stated.
It added that the pay Hossen received during his period of employment with Bhuiyan and IPS totaled approximately $59,674.00.
Had Hossen been properly paid the applicable federal minimum wage and overtime pay, he would have received approximately $110,000 in wages, the lawsuit stated.
Bhuiyan and IPS owed and still owe Hossen unpaid wages in the amount of over $50,000, but to date, Bhuiyan and IPS still have not fully paid Hossen, the lawsuit stated.
