A FOREIGN worker has been granted a transfer relief to work in the CNMI but the applications of nine others were rejected following their non-appearance in the recent hearing at the Department of Labor and Immigration.
Xu Xin Bao, one of the 22 abandoned employees of American Thousands Profits, is authorized to seek a new employer in 45 days.
In a May 15 decision issued by Hearing Officer Jerry Cody, Xu was also found eligible for a temporary work authorization and the right to remain in the CNMI for 45 days.
Xu was one of the 22 employees who filed a complaint against their then employer in 1997.
Based on a 1998 order by then Hearing Officer Herbert Soll, 14 of the employees filed a complaint with the Division of Labor. Soll said the 14 were eligible for transfer relief, and the others were “subject to further determination.”
Although the 14 were granted eligibility to transfer, the order did not set deadlines for the transfer, Cody said.
Cody’s recent order was made following a request from the Division of Labor to resolve the transfer status of all the former employees.
Based on the recent hearing, it was found that eight of the 22 employees had departed the CNMI while four had transferred to other employees after the issuance of the 1998 administrative order.
The remaining nine employees failed to appear at the hearing or to contact DOLI.
It was not known whether they are still in the CNMI or have already returned to China.
“Under the equitable principle of laches, these workers should be estopped and denied any further assertion of transfer rights arising from the case,” Cody said.
These workers “shall be denied transfer, ordered to depart within 15 days and, if not departed, shall be referred to the Division of Immigration for possible deportation proceedings,” the order said.
The workers are identified as Chen Lizhen, Feng Kunsheng, Jin Guo Dao, Li Zhen Zhu, Lin Xiao Guo, Lin Yaying, Lu Bing Huai, Zheng Xiu Qin and Zheng Xiuying Mei.
Cody, in his decision, recommended that DOLI look into possible monetary rewards to determine whether funds may be collected in favor of the employees.
