Judge Manglona ordered Gold Mantis to answer in writing no later than Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. why the court should not treat its noncompliance as 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.
The judge also wants Gold Mantis to explain why a default judgment should not be entered against it.
She has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 25 at 9 a.m.
Representing the plaintiffs, attorney Aaron Halegua recently informed the court that Gold Mantis had not complied with any of the seven items in the court order.
“No discovery was tendered; no affidavits were provided (or any drafts thereof); no updated discovery responses were served; and Gold Mantis did not file a certification that it had complied with the order. Indeed, Gold Mantis has not filed any status update with the court,” Halegua said.
On Oct. 19, Judge Manglona ordered Gold Mantis to respond by Oct. 29 to the following:
– Produce all bank records.
– Produce all records held by Gold Mantis’ accountant.
– Produce all documents related to a People’s Republic of China government inquiry into Gold Mantis’ operations in Saipan.
– Produce all responsive electronically stored information or ESI.
– Provide detailed affidavits describing Gold Mantis’ efforts to preserve and search for ESI (and providing drafts thereof to the plaintiffs by Oct. 25, 2020 for comment).
– Provide updated responses to the plaintiffs’ request for proposals and interrogatories.
– Submit a certification of compliance with the order.
Judge Manglona’s previous order also directed the plaintiffs to file a status report by Nov. 6 whether Gold Mantis had complied with her order.
In that same order, Judge Manglona also approved an award of attorney’s fees related to the filing of the motion against Gold Mantis.
Halegua’s requested rate is $400 per hour; co-counsel Bruce Berline, $300 per hour; and for two law student interns who performed legal research and other work regarding the lawsuit, $160 per hour.
The plaintiffs worked for MCC International and Gold Mantis, former contractor and subcontractor of Imperial Pacific International.
The plaintiffs initially sued MCC and Gold Mantis only, but included IPI in their amended complaint.
The plaintiffs are suing the defendants for forced labor, negligence, and liability for employees of subcontractors.
In their amended complaint, the plaintiffs are also alleging human trafficking violations.
The plaintiffs are construction workers Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu and Duxin Yan.
