A settlement conference was held last week before District Court for NMI Magistrate Judge Heather L. Kennedy.
At the conference, attorneys Aaron Halegua and Bruce Berline represented the plaintiffs; IPI was represented by attorney Michael Dotts; MCC International was represented by attorney Robert T. Torres; and Gold Mantis was represented by attorney Tiberius Mocanu.
On Sept. 24, 2020, the plaintiffs and Gold Mantis also resumed their settlement discussion, but no agreement was reached, the court was told.
The plaintiffs are Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan. They have asked the federal court to award them $3.86 million for compensatory damages and $7.72 million for punitive damages.
The plaintiffs worked for former IPI contractor and subcontractor, MCC International and Gold Mantis. IPI was named defendant in the workers’ amended complaint.
The defendants are alleging labor, negligence, and liability for employees of subcontractors.
The plaintiffs’ first amended complaint claimed human trafficking under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and the CNMI Anti-Trafficking Act, as well as claims under CNMI law for the physical injuries the plaintiffs said they suffered on the construction project.
There has been no ruling issued yet on the plaintiffs’ petition for damages.
