THE New XO Market in Gualo Rai has been sued by two former employees in federal court.
Abu Yousuf and MD Rokunnorzzaman, through attorney Joe Hill, filed a lawsuit against Longfeng Corporation, doing business as New XO Market, and its owners, husband and wife Guowu Li and Xu Gui Xing, in the District Court for the NMI on May 26.
The two ex-employees alleged that they weren’t paid the minimum wage or overtime pay. They are also alleging unlawful retaliation, theft of labor, and unjust enrichment.
The plaintiffs want the court to find the defendants jointly liable to pay the plaintiffs minimum wage for the hours that they had worked, overtime wages, award of damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
In their lawsuit, Yousuf and Rokunnorzzaman stated that in 2018 they were hired by the owners of New XO Market and were paid $4.25 an hour, far below the federal minimum wage at that time, which was $7.05 and $7.25 beginning September 2018.
They also alleged that they were terminated without reasonable explanation after they complained about their below-minimum wage rate and/or unpaid back wages and followed up and inquired about the status of their CW-1 applications as earlier promised to them by the defendants.
According to the plaintiffs, they were both hired initially as security guards, adding that they worked in excess of 40 hours under the direction of the defendants, and were assigned additional tasks that included, among other things, the following: mopping and cleaning the store floor, including cleaning up dog feces and litter; carrying and lifting heavy boxes and crates of vegetables and/or fruits, bags of rice, frozen meat and fish, dog and cat foods, mineral water and other items from the store warehouse to the display racks; putting in the purchased items into designated plastic bags or containers and carrying the items from the store counter to the customer’s parked vehicle outside the store.
The plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants never provided them with any payroll records, computations of all additions to or deductions from their wages and check stubs.
They likewise alleged that the defendants prohibited them from eating their lunch/meal, warning them that any time spent for lunch break would be deducted from their wages.
Moreover, the lawsuit stated, the defendants admonished the plaintiffs for using the restroom during working hours as being a waste of time, telling them to use the restroom at their house instead, as the store’s restroom was for customers.
Following the filing of the lawsuit, the court issued a summons to the defendants to respond to the allegations.
