$5M judgment in favor of ex-IPI employee OK’d

The U.S. District Court for the NMI has granted an over $5-million default judgment in favor of a former Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC employee who had accused the casino investor of wrongful termination.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona issued last Tuesday a default judgment order in the amount of $5,686,182 in favor of Joshua Gray, who sued the casino investor for allegedly terminating him because he complained to IPI management about the company’s practice of recruiting non-U.S. citizens and non-local applicants instead of qualified U.S. and CNMI citizens.

“…Gray has prevailed against IPI on his racial discrimination claim, claim of wrongful termination in violation of public policy, and Title VII discrimination and retaliation claims,” said Manglona.

Specifically, Manglona awarded Gray $1,421,545 in compensatory damages and $4,264,636 in punitive damages.

“The court awards Gray the following compensatory damages: $121,545.55 in back pay, $300,000 in lost future earnings, and $1,000,000 in emotional distress damages. The total of compensatory damages amounts to $1,421,545.55. With a ratio of 3:1 of punitive damages to compensatory damages, the court awards $4,264,636.65 in punitive damages. Therefore, the total amount of compensatory and punitive damages is $5,686,182.20 plus attorneys’ fees and costs, prejudgment interest at the same rate as post-judgment interest, and post-judgment interest at the applicable federal rate,” said Manglona.

Initially, sued IPI for $3,939,768 in compensatory damages with a ratio of 7:1 for punitive damages, which is about $31,518,144 in total damages.

However, Manglona said, after reviewing the record, the evidence presented, and relevant case law, the court granted Gray’s motion for default judgment, but for the lesser amount of $5,686,182.20.

According to Gray’s initial complaint, IPI recruited Gray to work as a director for operations in July 2015.

In late 2017, Gray complained to IPI that the company was violating immigration law and CNMI public policy by failing to hire qualified U.S. and local applicants.

Gray complained that IPI had a policy of recruiting non-U.S. citizens solely from Asian countries and employing them instead of qualified U.S. and CNMI citizens. Gray said he informed IPI that it had to stop these practices.

IPI allegedly terminated Gray’s employment on Jan. 24, 2018, without reason or justification and done nothing to merit termination. The termination, Gray claims, was clearly in retaliation.

The complaint also stated that back in June 2016, Gray applied for the position of vice president of IPI’s hotel operations. However, Gray was never given an interview even though he was the most qualified. Instead, IPI allegedly simply gave the position to a Singaporean citizen.

In March 2017, Gray allegedly applied for the position of vice president of talent and property management. Again, the complaint states, Gray was never given an interview. Instead, IPI gave the position to another Singaporean citizen.