Roberto M. Malate and his wife Ma. Theresa Malate filed the complaint against CUC and CPA in federal court. They are also asking for a jury trial.
The plaintiffs, through their counsel David G. Banes, are asking the federal court to grant them relief for general, statutory and special damages in an amount to be proven at trial, for punitive damages, for prejudgment and post-judgment interest as allowed by law, for attorney and statutory fees and costs of suit, and for other relief the court may deem appropriate.
Mr. Malate said at about 4 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2007, his wife received a phone call from then-CUC Executive Director Anthony Guerrero, asking him to proceed to the airport to assist then-CPA Executive Director Stanley Torres Jr. fix a problem with a transformer.
Mr. Malate said he told Guerrero that it could be done during office hours at 7:30 a.m. because it was still dark, but he was told it was an emergency.
Guerrero told him there were ongoing flights and the airport had no power and water.
CPA owned the transformer and generator at the airport.
Mr. Malate said he followed Guerrero’s order to assist CPA with the transformer problem.
He started troubleshooting after he was told by CPA personnel that the circuit breaker was already turned off.
He said he recommended to Torres to hire a contractor after he found that the problem was a faulty high voltage cable.
He said as he was about to leave, Torres asked him to identify the faulty cable again but during the testing, the high voltage cable exploded, injuring him.
Mr. Malate was transported to the Commonwealth Health Center for treatment to second and third degree burns on his face, ears, neck, arms and hands.
A couple of days later, CHC referred him to a hospital in the Philippines for further burn management.
The plaintiffs left for the Philippines on Aug. 22, 2007 but CHC and the Workers Compensation Commission failed to inform the hospital of Mr. Malate’s arrival.
He said he was subjected to a long wait inside the ambulance as there was no available physician and room reserved for him and no money was provided to pay for hospital costs, medicine and accommodation.
He said he had to pay cash to the hospital and had to buy his own medical supplies and medicine.
He said the hospital he was referred to did not accept his personal health insurance so he requested for transfer to another hospital.
Mr. Malate said he underwent three surgeries and used his personal health insurance to pay 80 percent of the medical expenses, and his credit card to pay the remaining 20 percent.
He said the Workers Compensation Commission reimbursed only 20 percent of his expenses.
He returned to Saipan on Oct. 13, 2007.
He said he needed further treatment but because of lack of funds, he was forced to go back to Saipan.
Mr. Malate said he made his second trip to the Philippines in Dec. 2007.
CUC paid for his air ticket, food and housing, while the Workers Compensation Commission paid for the treatment.
Mr. Malate said when he returned to work sometime in Dec. 2007, he saw a CPA electrical wiring diagram that CUC requested from CPA in connection with CUC’s investigation of the explosion at the airport.
He reviewed the diagram and saw that there were two power sources to the electrical cable he was testing when it exploded but only one was turned off.
Mr. Malate said he made a third trip to the Philippines for skin grafting and surgery in March 2008 but the Workers Compensation Commission reimbursed him only 20 percent of his expenses.
He was not also reimbursed for his expenses during his fourth and fifth trips for surgery to the Philippines.
He said a doctor at CHC recommended off-island treatment for his left hand on June 12, 2009.
He said his injuries caused him pain and scars, numbness of both arms, diminished memory and appetite, anxiety, insomnia, and loss of capacity to compete in the engineering professions.
He also suffered mental trauma, lost wages, incurred expenses and will continue to suffer from his burns.
He said as a result of his injuries, his wife had been deprived of his care, companionship and services.
Mr. Malate is filing six causes of action against the defendants for CPA and CUC’s negligence, for reckless infliction of emotional distress, for negligence, strict liability against CPA and for loss of consortium.
He said CUC and CPA breached their duty to maintain its premises and facilities in a safe condition that would allow people to safety work about its premises.
