Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom talks to reporters after a hearing in federal court on Tuesday.
DESIGNATED Federal Judge David O. Carter on Tuesday denied Imperial Pacific International’s emergency motion for a temporary restraining order.
IPI wanted the court to restrain the Commonwealth Casino Commission from conducting a license revocation hearing today, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
CCC Executive Director Andrew Yeom told reporters that he was “surprised” by Judge Carter’s ruling “based on the track record of how a TRO is usually granted, but this time … fortunately we’ve been granted a denial of the motion for TRO.”
Yeom added, “We will proceed with the revocation [tomorrow morning at 10]. We will proceed as planned. Between now and then IPI still has the opportunity to satisfy [CCC’s] order … and if they do, the revocation hearing may be canceled. But … unless they comply … then the hearing will go on as planned.”
At the court hearing, Assistant Attorney General Keisha Blaise represented CCC.
She asked the court to deny IPI’s emergency motion for a TRO, saying that the enforcement actions at issue were barred by the doctrine of res judicata and estoppel.
Res judicata, also known as claim preclusion, bars litigation in a subsequent action of any claims that were raised or could have been raised in the prior action.
Estoppel is “a legal principle that prevents or stops someone from asserting a fact that is contradictory to an already established truth.”
According to Blaise, “The 2020 regulatory enforcement action regarding IPI’s failure to maintain payroll had already been decided by the merits before CCC, before the Superior Court, and before the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth. IPI now seeks to relitigate matters that have already been litigated.”
Blaise added, “We don’t believe public interest is served in allowing IPI to continue to circumvent the finality of [a previous] judgment to further delay the enforcement actions that already have been decided.”
She said, “Even if this court were to decide that the 2020 regulatory fee should be subject to an injunction or a TRO, we believe CCC can move forward with the commission’s order requiring IPI to maintain payroll reserve.”
Blaise said the casino license agreement “does in fact give the commission the power to act on violations and enforce them by either suspension or revocation. Therefore, we do not think that IPI would have success on the merits on this case.”
Gov. Arnold I. Palacios was represented by his legal counsel, John Brendan Layde, who also argued against the granting of the emergency TRO, citing IPI’s previous labor and immigration violations.
IPI’s attorneys Stephen Nutting and Michael Chen both appeared virtually for the hearing.
Chen said he doesn’t see “any harm in keeping the status quo. Having the license suspended rather than revoked can’t do any harm to the public interest. The two complaints before the court are purely financial interest.”
According to CCC, IPI has failed to pay, since 2020, the $15.5 million annual exclusive casino license fee, which now amounts to over $62 million, and the $3.15 million annual regulatory fee due to the commission, now in the sum of $17.6 million, for a total of $79.63 million.
Last week, IPI refiled in the District Court for the NMI its two lawsuits against the governor and CCC officials, alleging breach of the casino license agreement.
IPI said it would suffer immediate and irreparable harm if the license revocation hearing proceeds today, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
“There is little doubt, given the pattern, and in particular CCC’s November 30, 2023 ‘Notice’ and the inherent conflict of interest as to the regulatory fee, that the CCC will continue to defer to its Executive Director and thereby revoke the license,” IPI said.
IPI added that it will suffer “immediate and irreparable harm because it will be deprived of the forum of its contractual choosing to resolve these issues, and because this will necessarily result in the permanent shuttering of its operations.”
Variety was told that IPI and CCC had been negotiating an agreement, but the settlement amount remained a point of contention.
Imperial Pacific International Director How Yo Chi, Assistant Attorney General Keisha Blaise, governor’s legal counsel John Brendan Layde, Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom and other government lawyers leave the federal courthouse following a hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
