IMPERIAL Pacific International LLC is appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the $5.9 million default judgment awarded by the federal court to seven construction workers who filed a lawsuit alleging labor violations and human trafficking.
IPI is also appealing the federal court’s recent denial of the casino investor’s motion to reconsider the issuance of a default judgment.
IPI, through attorneys Kevin T. Abikoff and Daniel H. Weiner of Hughes Hubbard & Reed law firm, filed the notices of appeal on Sept. 1, 2021.
On May 26, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI entered a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, in the amount of $5,430,595.58 plus post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees, for a total amount of $5,915,595.98.
In her 40-page order, the judge awarded the plaintiffs a total of $2,957,797.79 in compensatory damages, and $2,957,797.79 in punitive damages. The judge also awarded the plaintiffs a total of $332,350 for emotional distress, $65,945.79 for lost income, $359,502 for future lost income, and $2,200,000 for pain and suffering.
The seven plaintiffs, who were employed by IPI’s former contractor and subcontractor, are Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan. They are represented by attorneys Aaron Halegua of New York and Bruce Berline of Saipan.
Their original complaint was filed against IPI’s former subcontractor Gold Mantis Construction Decoration (CNMI) in Dec. 2018.
An amended complaint was filed in March 2019 to include IPI’s former contractor MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co. and IPI itself as defendants. The complaint also added an allegation of forced labor under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
The plaintiffs had asked the federal court to award them $3.86 million in compensatory damages and $7.72 million in punitive damages.
IPI is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company, Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited.
MCC International and Gold Mantis were the contractor and subcontractor of IPI in the construction of its casino resort in Garapan.
The plaintiffs have already settled with MCC International and Gold Mantis.
