He also declined to say how much money is going to be paid to the former employees.
All he could say was that the case has been going on for five years now.
Asked for comment, Tan Holdings lawyer Steven P. Pixley said, “While it is true that L&T has agreed to settle all claims relating to the former garment workers from the Philippines, the terms and conditions of the settlement are still being worked out with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Joe Hill. It does appear that the former workers will each receive some compensation. The amount is yet to be determined.”
Some of the former L&T workers who believe they are included in the settlement agreement said those who will be paid are the ones who lost their jobs in 2004.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued L&T for discrimination.
Employees complained that L&T subjected them to age and race-related verbal harassment.
The company was also accused of engaging in a pattern of terminating employment contracts of female employees who became pregnant.
The complaint stated that L&T discriminated against Filipino employees by depriving them of overtime while allowing the Chinese employees to file for OT.
Hope
As advised by her legal counsel, one of the L&T’s ex-employees requested this reporter not to disclose her name.
In an interview yesterday, she said she was 47 years old when her supervisor informed her that her contract would not be renewed in 2004.
She said she wanted to see her family back home but decided to hang on, hoping for justice.
“I’ve been working for the company since 1984 and just because I turned 47 that year, they included me in their reduction of work force,” the ex-worker said.
She recalled that some of her friends advised her to write to the EEOC.
She said she almost lost hope after a year had passed and there was still no reply from the federal agency.
But she finally got a call from the EEOC, instructing her to see the federal labor ombudsman on island.
The EEOC also asked the CNMI Labor Department to allow the ex-L&T worker to stay on island until the allegation of age discrimination was fully investigated.
Months later, the EEOC issued a determination that there was reasonable cause to believe that the charging party was harassed and discharged because of her age and nationality.
The EEOC said evidence was sufficient to establish that L&T violated the age discrimination in employment provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Excitement
The ex-worker is not sure if she is included in the settlement agreement but the news gave her hope.
“I’m so excited when I heard about it yesterday,” she said adding that if she is included, she will definitely go home as soon as she gets paid.
The news also gave Teddy Casido and Juanito Coria the same hope.
The two are also former L&T workers who lost their jobs when the Tan Holdings garment factory they were working for shut down in 2006.
They filed a discrimination complaint in 2007.
Casido said he still had three months, while Coria had 10 months left in their contracts when they were laid off.
Casido and Coria are hoping that they’re included in the settlement agreement.
