Leonardo C. Ramos, who managed the defunct Leonard Security Agency, was also ordered to reimburse the expenses of his former three workers which he unlawfully collected.
In his administrative order dated Nov. 26, Hearing Officer Jerry Cody said Ramos violated the Nonresidents Workers Act by collecting processing fees, failing to pay medical examination expenses and other legitimate expenses from the three workers.
On Aug. 25, 2003, Celso D. Agpawa, Renato G. Cotin and Dominador P. Andres filed a labor complaint against Leonard Ramos and Perfecto C. Ramos for various labor claims that accrued from 1999 to 2003 when they were still working as security guards for the agency.
In 2007, the hearing office placed the case on the hearing calendar at the request of the complainants.
At that time, Ramos’ counsel stated that he had no means to contact his client.
But shortly before the hearing in Nov. 2008, attornety Anthony Long revealed that he had received a telephone call from Ramos who is currently serving in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In Leonard Ramos’ absence, Perfecto C. Ramos managed the day to day operations of the security agency. His task included making daily assignments and supervising the work of the complainants.
The three complainants argued that Perfecto C. Ramos’ involvement in the business made him a de-facto employer.
Perfecto Ramos is a former nonresident worker who was deported from the CNMI in 2002 and was barred from reentering the islands for five years.
Cody said as many of the claims in the complaint related to events that occurred two to four years before the filing of the complaint, a central legal issue in the case is whether the claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitation.
Upon reviewing the arguments of both parties, Cody concluded that the provision that would suspend the statute of limitations for civil case during the time Ramos was absent from the commonwealth is not applicable to labor claims brought under the Nonresident Workers Act.
But the hearing officer denied the complainants’ legal claim of entitlement to transportation expenses, saying that even if the claim were to be accepted as legally valid, the alleged damages would be found to be speculative.
Labor at the same time allowed the three complainants to seek new employment in the CNMI.
