Gu Li Qiang filed the complaint against the International Business Professional College, by and through its principal Herman Sablan and 20 other individuals identified only as “Does.”
Gu Li Qiang is asking the Superior Court to render judgment in his favor against the defendants for actual compensatory, consequential and incidental damages; for attorney’s fees and costs; for pre-judgment and post-judgment interests in the maximum amount permitted by law; for an order staying deportation and directing the director of labor to issue him temporary work authorization pending final resolution of this action; and other relief.
He is also asking the court to order the defendants to provide him compensation for past and future non-pecuniary losses caused by the defendant’s unlawful conduct and for punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
Gu Li Qiang said he signed up to attend the defendants’ school on Saipan and paid the defendant’s agent in China $12,000.
He said Sablan did not give him a copy of the contract but he retrieved one from the Attorney General’s Office which stated the fees he paid included receipts for school fee, food and housing.
After the 2003 contract signing with Sablan, the plaintiff said he got an entry permit and a student visa.
On Feb. 14, 2004, the plaintiff said Sablan returned to Saipan with him and they boarded a taxi which took him to a small hotel where he stayed for a night.
He said he was given no books or supplies. He was not able to attend classes because there was no instructor and a secretary of Sablan started to help out by acting as a teacher.
The plaintiff said Sablan provided food and housing only for two months.
He and other students complained to the AGO who ordered Sablan to let him and others stay for schooling purposes.
Sablan gave the plaintiff only two more months of housing but no food was provided as the AGO ordered, the complaint stated.
After four months, the plaintiff said he went back to China to seek reimbursement from the defendant’s agent there because he had no more money.
But the agent in China told the plaintiff that he gave the full $12,000 to the defendant.
Six months later, the plaintiff returned to Saipan and met with an AGO investigator.
He said he asked for a refund from Sablan but he was told that if he and the others wanted a refund, it had to be requested on the first day of school and they would be taken back to China.
He was also told that if two weeks had lapsed, only half of his money would be returned.
On Feb. 15, 2008, the Department of Labor’s Enforcement/Compliance Section issued the plaintiff a memorandum authorization to seek a temporary employer.
The plaintiff said he was arrested by the AG Investigative Unit for being an illegal alien in the CNMI.
He was released after he posted a $1,000 bail.
The plaintiff said he received a letter on Feb. 24, 2009 stating that the case against IBPC was closed and that his assistance was no longer needed.
He said he has been injured by the acts of the defendants, and has incurred losses including emotional distress.
The plaintiff has filed five claims of relief against the defendants — for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and violation of his civil rights.
Asked for comment, IBPC operations manager Charry de Guzman said they still had to dig up the records of the plaintiff since a long time had already elapsed since he was a student of the school.
De Guzman said the school never had an agent in China as what the plaintiff claimed.
She added that most of the students they have from China came to the CNMI through sponsors.
She said once a student leaves the CNMI without their knowledge, the school terminates the student visa.
