CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for NMI has found Lijie Cui, the former chair of Imperial Pacific International LLC, in contempt of court, again, this time for failing to provide backups of her electronically stored information or ESI and the correct login information for her iCloud account.
Judge Manglona ordered Cui to explain by Monday, Nov. 8, her failure to comply, which will result in a $500 a day fine.
At the status conference on Friday, Cui was represented by attorney Clyde Lemons who appeared via teleconference. He reported his efforts in retrieving backup ESI data and gave notice of their intention to issue a subpoena.
Lemons also told the court that attorney David Lujan will resume representation and counsel of Cui as it was Lemons’ last day at Lujan’s firm.
After the judge entered a finding of contempt against Cui, she also ordered Lemons to effectuate the issuance of the subpoena.
Attorney Joey San Nicolas, who also represents Cui, told the court that he will assist as local counsel in issuing the subpoena to comply with the court’s order, adding that Cui is willing to assist and comply.
Judge Manglona also awarded the plaintiffs attorneys’ fees for having to pursue this specific portion of the order to show cause.
The judge ordered Cui, through her attorney, to issue the subpoena by Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, and file a declaration, no later than Nov. 8, 2021, detailing why backup ESI data had not been tendered up to date and why a subpoena was necessary.
The judge also scheduled a status conference for Nov. 12, 2021 at 8 a.m. adding that a written order would be issued.
But Judge Manglona found Cui “not” in contempt as to the sole issue regarding the existence of a gold/rose gold cell phone during the period of the preservation order.
Yue Wang served as Cui’s interpreter during the court proceeding.
The plaintiffs, through attorney Aaron Halegua, have accused Cui of violating the contempt order previously issued by the court in the lawsuit of seven workers alleging labor abuses and human trafficking.
Cui is a third-party witness in the lawsuit of the seven construction workers against IPI and its former contractor and subcontractor, MCC International and Gold Mantis Construction Decoration, both of which have already settled with the plaintiffs: Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Halegua and Bruce Berline.
Halegua in a recent motion to the court has called for sanctions against Cui, including incarceration until she complies with the court order. “As monetary sanctions have once again proven insufficient to compel compliance,” he added.
Lijie Cui
