Congress help sought in pay discrimination suit

The chair of the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations yesterday vowed to push a two-decade case involving alleged salary discrimination against indigenous employees during the Trust Territory government in the Northern Marianas.

Rep. Dino M. Jones said he raised the issue during the talks held by the House delegation with members of the U.S. Congress last week to win support, noting that the legislative intervention is the only way to resolve the long-standing dispute.

“We have exhausted the judicial process, so it’s now time to ask Congress to help us,” he told reporters in an interview.

The case, filed more than 20 years ago, was thrown out by the U.S. District Court whose ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Court after the plaintiff appealed the lower court’s decision.

It involved more than 900 people from the Northern Marianas and other Micronesian islands who were employed by the Trust Territory administration, earning less than what Americans were given at that time, according to Mr. Jones.

They had sought over $20 million they claimed owed to them by the U.S. administrators as a result of the salary discrimination.
Since the case never prospered in the courts, Mr. Jones pointed out that legislation passed by Congress could help revive the issue and let it be heard again.

He disclosed Manase Mansur, chief aide of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chair of the House Resources Committee which has oversight of all insular areas, had agreed to look into the problems for possible resolution of the case.

“He told us that there are two approaches to handle the case — one, to see whether there are precedent cases in other territories similar to our situation, and if there’s none, he would request Congressman Young to introduce legislation that will require the judiciary to hear the case,” Mr. Jones said.

The representative arrived on Saipan over the weekend from a week-long visit in Washington D.C. where the 10-man delegation from the CNMI House leadership discussed issues affecting the island with U.S. lawmakers.

He said he brought up several issues during the meetings, chief among which were this salary discrimination case, the federal takeover attempts and the matching requirements for Capital Improvement Projects.

The delegation, led by Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, has described the trip a success in light of the support thrown by Republican leaders in Congress to the Commonwealth in order to retain its control over local labor and immigration.