Administrative Hearing Officer Jerry Cody ordered Elphrain S. Taimanao and Cecile O. Blas-Taimanao to buy a plane ticket for Lolita P. Mendoza on or before Feb. 28.
“If Ms. Mendoza fails or refuses to depart from the CNMI after the ticket is produced in a timely manner, her name shall be forwarded to the deputy secretary of labor for possible referral to the U.S. immigration authorities for deportation proceedings,” Cody ordered.
He also ordered the couple to pay a fine of $500 to Labor by May 15 for violating labor laws.
The Taimanao couple employed Mendoza as their housemaid from Dec. 2007 to Dec. 2008.
The couple offered to renew Mendoza’s contract but she refused and instead asked that she be repatriated.
The couple refused to buy her a plane ticket.
“Employers were each employed as of Dec, 2008, but claimed that they lacked sufficient funds to pay for employee’s repatriation ticket. For the next two years — Dec. 2998 to Jan. 2011 — employers have continued to maintain that they lack sufficient funds to afford a repatriation ticket for employee,” Cody said.
But Mendoza didn’t approach the Labor Department on Rota about her situation until after a year.
She also failed to get an umbrella permit which would have allowed her to remain in the CNMI until Nov. 27, 2011.
“The employee’s own delay in requesting assistance contributed to her plight,” Cody said.
The couple and Mendoza didn’t tap the employment bond to pay for her ticket, he added.
This option is no longer applicable due to statutory limitation on claims.
