ATTORNEY Michael Dotts told the federal court on Monday that there had been two incidents involving Imperial Pacific International’s employees.
“One involving the eviction of two Taiwanese workers from LauLau, and the other involving Mongolian workers paying their own utilities at Flame Tree,” Dotts said in the ninth and latest weekly status report submitted to the District Court of the NMI as required by Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona.
“As reported in the fourth report,” Dotts said, “there were 11 Taiwanese individuals who refused repatriation and claimed they had transferred to new employers. Two of them were still residing in IPI’s housing at LauLau when that housing facility closed. IPI provided them oral notices that IPI was closing the LauLau housing on February 15 and again on February 22, 2021, but still they remained. On Saturday, March 13, 2021, the power to LauLau was cut off and the facility closed.”
On Saturday morning, Dotts said, the U.S. Department of Labor alerted IPI that the two Taiwanese who had been staying at LauLau had been rendered homeless and were seeking assistance from Karidat, a church-based charitable organization.
IPI then provided keys to an apartment at Queens Apartments on Saturday, March 13, 2021 around noon, the lawyer added.
Dotts’s report included pictures of the unit at Queens Apartments.
“IPI again offered to repatriate them,” he said. “These individuals again refused repatriation. They advised IPI that they have applied for B2 tourist visas and that they had receipts. They told IPI that they do not intend to leave Saipan until fully paid by IPI.”
As for the employees staying at Flame Tree housing, Dotts said it is “for executives and all tenants there pay their own power bills.”
Sometime back, he said, the Mongolian team leader requested that IPI make one unit available at Flame Tree for the Mongolians supervisors. The rest of the Mongolian team stays at Sugar King.
“IPI accommodated this request. It was believed that the management company for the Mongolians was paying the power bill to CUC for the unit where the supervisors stayed. It was recently learned that the supervisors staying in the unit have been paying the power bill themselves,” Dotts said.
IPI’s position is that its employees need not pay for power or water or food during this time when they are unable to work to cover these basic expenses, Dotts added.
“IPI will cover these basic expenses until the workers can be repatriated. IPI recognizes that the Mongolian management company that requested the housing at Flame Tree for the supervisors should pay for the power, or IPI should pay for the power, but not the workers. One employee who paid a power bill at Flame Tree…reports that he has already been reimbursed. IPI will investigate and make sure all employees who paid power bills at Flame Tree have been reimbursed,” Dotts said.
As for payroll, he said it was distributed on March 12 without incident.
“The total payroll was about $65,000. IPI’s next payday is March 26, 2021,” he added.
In addition, IPI employee housing still has power, Dotts said.
Because IPI was able to close the LauLau housing on Saturday, the company’s operating costs will be reduced, he said.
Dotts said food services have continued without interruption for all H-2B workers, and the water pump that broke as related in the last report has been repaired.
Dotts said there are no new repatriations to report, and construction work at the casino site remains suspended as ordered by the court.
Recently, the federal court extended the effective date of IPI receivership to March 19 following a stipulation by the parties.
USDOL-Wage and Hour investigators have been examining the payroll documents provided by IPI but require more time to determine the amount of wages due, the stipulation stated.
Judge Manglona earlier ordered IPI and IPI chairwoman Cui Li Jie to purge their contempt of court by Friday, March 12, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. by paying for back wages owed in the amount of $1,182,793 under the 2019 consent judgment.
She also ordered the defendants to deposit $800,000 in an escrow account to secure the future payment of wages to IPI’s employees.
Moreover, IPI must pay outstanding back wages owed to former workers employed after the 2019 consent judgment was entered.
If IPI fails to comply with her orders, the judge said the court-appointed receiver, Civille & Tang PLLC and its team of professionals, acting by and through its principal representative Joyce C.H. Tang, will “perform all acts deemed necessary to comply with this order.”
