Garment firm sues another

Concorde Garment Manufacturing Corp. filed yesterday a lawsuit against Rifu Apparel Corp. for allegedly inducing some Concorde employees to abandon their jobs and file frivolous complaints with the Department of Labor in order to work illegally at Rifu.

Concorde Garment, through counsel Steven P. Pixley, sued Rifu Apparel Corp., and Rifu’s agent Han Zi Jian, and four unnamed persons, for tortious interference with contract.

Saipan Tribune contacted Rifu Apparel Corp. I in As Lito yesterday to get their side, but the general manager, Jung Ryul Lee, refused to comment.

Concorde asked the Superior Court to restrain the defendants from illegally interfering with Concorde employees. It also demanded compensatory and punitive damages.

Pixley asserted in the complaint that, unless restrained by court, the defendants’ acts caused and will continue to cause Concorde to suffer damage and injury such as:

* Concorde is at times unable to fill orders because of a diminished work force.

* Interference with its hiring of employees abroad because of the defendants’ illegal conduct, which places Saipan in a bad light.

* Interference with Concorde’s contracts with retail customers who are very concerned about illegal activities such as allegedly those engaged in by the defendants.

* Damage to the reputation of Concorde through the filing of frivolous complaints and Rifu’s mistreatment of its workers.

Pixley said Concorde and its companies lawfully employed foreign contract workers for the manufacture of apparel products at its Lower Base facility. These contract workers, he said, were recruited by Concorde and they executed one-year contracts pursuant to CNMI laws.

Pixley said that, although aware of such contractual relationship, Rifu, through its agents, including Jian and four Does, induced Concorde employees from March 2003 up to the present to work at Rifu.

Jian, acting as an agent and co-conspirator with Rifu, engaged in a scheme whereby he convinced numerous Concorde employees to abandon their jobs at Concorde and work at Rifu, the lawyer said.

Jian and the four Does convinced some of these employees to file frivolous complaints with the CNMI Labor in order to acquire temporary work authorizations. Jian illegally collected money from these employees to assist them with the filing of their complaints, Pixley said.

He said Rifu willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay the workers their lawfully-earned wages and overtime premiums and by making illegal deductions from their wages.

On April 17, 2006, authorities raided the Rifu manufacturing facilities. Approximately 55 illegal workers were detained as a result of this operation.

Pixley said Concorde learned that approximately 17 of its employees were working at Rifu at the time of this raid.

“As part of this conspiracy to violate the laws of the CNMI and the legal rights of Concorde, Rifu instructed its illegal workers regarding an escape plan from its manufacturing facility in the event of a raid by law enforcement officials,” Pixley said.