GOLD Mantis Construction Decoration (CNMI) LLC, in a status report filed in federal court, stated that it has reached a settlement with seven construction workers who have accused the company of labor and other violations.
Gold Mantis, represented by attorney Tiberius Mocanu, on Monday told the District Court for the NMI that on Nov. 25, 2020, the court ordered his client to provide a certification of compliance with all discovery orders by Dec. 28.
Since the issuance of that order, Mocanu said, the parties have reached a settlement and are in the final stages of finalizing and executing a settlement agreement.
“The parties intend to file a stipulation of dismissal for the court’s approval as soon as fully executed and practicable,” Mocanu added.
He asked that the status conference for Jan. 11 be vacated and taken off calendar.
The plaintiffs — Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu and Duxin Yan — sued Gold Mantis, MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co. and Imperial Pacific International, LLC over labor and other violations.
Gold Mantis and MCC are the former subcontractor and contractor of IPI.
Represented by attorneys Aaron Halegua and Bruce Berline, the plaintiffs are alleging forced labor, negligence, and liability for employees of subcontractors.
In their amended complaint, the plaintiffs alleged human trafficking violations.
Following Gold Mantis’ status report filing, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted the request and issued an order vacating the Jan. 11 hearing. She then scheduled a Jan. 25 status conference and ordered the parties to file their stipulation of dismissal by Jan. 21.
She added that Gold Mantis can suggest a new status conference date to allow for the completion of the negotiations.
On Nov. 25, 2020, Judge Manglona found Gold Mantis in contempt of court and imposed a $2,000 fine per day for violating her discovery order.
Judge Manglona previously ordered Gold Mantis to answer in writing why the court should not treat its noncompliance as a contempt of court; and why the court should not impose a civil contempt sanction requiring Gold Mantis to pay a $2,000 daily fine from the time all discovery and affidavits were to be produced.
