CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI approved on Tuesday the stay agreement between Imperial Pacific International LLC and seven construction workers who sued the casino investor over allegations of labor violations and human trafficking.
Judge Manglona said the stay agreement and its appendices are deemed sufficient to warrant a stay pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(b).
“The court further affirms that by virtue of the…writ of execution, plaintiffs maintain a valid lien as to IPI’s personal property (other than IPI’s gaming equipment, which will be addressed by a separate order), that this lien shall remain in place until IPI has complied with all its obligations under the stay agreement, and that IPI shall not transfer, pledge, or otherwise encumber its personal property without the express written consent of plaintiffs or permission of this court.”
Judge Manglona said the court
“shall retain jurisdiction over the enforcement of any provision of the stay agreement.”
IPI was represented by attorney Kevin Abikoff while the seven workers were represented by attorneys Aaron Halegua and Bruce Berline.
According to the joint stipulation, the parties executed an agreement to stay enforcement, with an effective date of Feb. 3, 2022.
The plaintiffs “shall stay enforcement of their default judgement in exchange for IPI and certain other parties securing a supersedeas [or appeal] bond in the amount of $6 million on or before June 30, 2022, committing other collateral, and fulfilling other obligations set forth in the stay agreement.”
IPI secured an initial appeal bond in the amount of $1 million on Feb. 11, 2022, and reimbursed the expenses and a portion of the legal fees incurred by the plaintiffs in enforcing their judgment by making payment to the plaintiffs’ counsel on Feb. 9, 2022.
The plaintiffs are Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan. They were previously employed by IPI’s former contractor and subcontractor, MCC International and Gold Mantis, both of which have already settled with the workers.
On May 26, 2021, Judge Manglona entered a default judgment in favor of the workers plus post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees for a total amount of $5.9 million.
After IPI’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the federal court, the casino investor appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Ramona V. Manglona
