A judge in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has ordered casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) to pay millions in damages to workers who were subjected to forced labor and human trafficking.
According to Marianas Variety, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the CNMI entered the $5.9 million judgment on behalf of seven Chinese workers. IPI’s mistreatment of the workers was “appalling,” Manglona said. “IPI was the driving force” behind the “egregious conditions” faced by the plaintiffs, all the “while benefiting from that exploitation.”
An attorney for the workers, Aaron Halegua, released a statement on May 24 saying, “We are pleased to see that the court recognizes the egregiousness of IPI’s conduct and the severity of the suffering that it caused our clients. This is an important decision because eradicating forced labor requires that perpetrators of such abuses face serious consequences.”
He added, “Specifically, the plaintiffs paid high recruitment fees to go from China to Saipan based on false promises of high wages and good conditions. After arriving, the plaintiffs regularly worked over 12 hours per day, without rest, and sometimes performed 24-hour shifts. They were paid below the minimum wage, or sometimes nothing at all, and housed in unsanitary, overcrowded dormitories where rats crawled on their bodies.”
Halegua said IPI illegally arranged for the plaintiffs to enter Saipan as tourists instead of under temporary work visas, then “took away their passports, instructed them to hide when government officials came to inspect the worksite or dormitories, and refused to take them to the hospital when they suffered injuries.” Worse, he said, “A supervisor threatened to kill the workers if they complained or disobeyed him. The casino also denied a federal safety inspector access to the worksite, despite reports of a high number of injuries.”
Martina Vandenberg, president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, said the judgment “demonstrates the redemptive power when trafficking survivors take justice into their own hands. All workers who have suffered forced labor and exploitation should have the opportunity to obtain justice in U.S. federal courts.”
The CNMI, located in the western Pacific, is a U.S. protectorate.
Asked for comment, IPI said its company attorneys are reviewing the court’s ruling, adding that the casino investor “will take the right course of action based on legal advice.” It still-unfinished casino resort is closed due to Covid-19.
