Merlinda Gaboya filed a petition for judicial review through her counsel Joseph E. Horey.
She is asking the court to reverse the order of the Labor secretary and hearing office and authorize her to transfer to another employer.
She is also asking the court to grant her costs and attorney’s fees and other relief the court may deem proper.
The petitioner was one of the 17 workers who filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the NMI against their employer, Eastern Hope Corp., for unpaid wages on Oct. 14, 2008.
Gaboya said on the same date, she filed a labor complaint raising the same issues.
Gaboya said she and Eastern Hope agreed during a mediation on Oct. 27, 2008 that the labor case be taken off calendar pending resolution of the federal case.
The labor case was set for a hearing on Dec. 9, 2008 where there was an order denying Gaboya permission to transfer or extend time to transfer in any other proceeding other than her labor case.
Her counsel was advised that Labor was attempting to clear its backlog of cases and asked if Gaboya would agree to dismiss her labor complaint without prejudice.
Gaboya’s counsel agreed and submitted a motion to dismiss without prejudice.
She said on Dec. 12, her counsel was again contacted by hearing officer Jerry Cody who expressed concern that Gaboya might misconstrue that she was being granted a transfer.
Gaboya’s counsel submitted a revised motion to clear things.
On April 17, 2009, Labor’s hearing office entered a different order from what had been previously agreed on, granting Gaboya’s motion to dismiss without prejudice but also stating that “the complainant has no further eligibility for transfer.”
Gaboya appealed the order on April 17, 2009. She settled her case against Eastern Hope on June 10, 2009 in federal court.
She said the order of the hearing office was erroneous, unsupported by substantial evidence and unwarranted by facts.
