Hello Health Massage sued for labor violations

Four nonresident workers have sued their former employer, Hello Health Massage I and II and Hello Disco, for alleged breach of contract, nonpayment of overtime pay and minimum wage, and negligence.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court Friday, plaintiffs Zhou Ping Xian, Xu Xiao Ping, Shi Fan, and Wu Shu Zhen alleged that their employer, Walvo Enterprises, which does business as Hello Health Massage I and II and Hello Disco in Garapan, had unilaterally altered their employment contracts upon their arrival on Saipan from the People’s Republic of China.

They said that they were recruited as waitresses but when they got to Saipan on different dates last year, their jobs were changed to “masseuse.”

The plaintiffs, represented by former Attorney General Robert Torres, said they were forced to sign a “side agreement” to implement the amended contracts.

In their complaint, they said that more than once, the employer sent them to customers to perform massage and sexual services.

The workers said they paid 60,000 to 65,000 RMB each to recruiters to work as waitresses on Saipan at $3.05 per hour for 40 hours a week. Yet, they actually worked way beyond 40 hours a week but were not compensated accordingly.

The workers also alleged that, although they were off- duty, their employer would require them to remain on-call for customers.

They resigned from WALVO on Aug. 16, 2004.

Zhen, in the complaint, said she arrived on Saipan in May 2003 and, without her knowledge or consent, WALVO “unilaterally reassigned [her] to the job of masseuse.”

She said that from May 2003 to July 2003, she was required to work from 4pm to 3am with one-hour lunch break. During this time, she worked a minimum of 70 hours a week. From Aug. 2003 to Aug. 16, 2004, she was permitted one day off per pay period, but continued to work from 4pm to 3am or from 2pm to midnight for 13 days in a given pay period for a total of 130 hours.

Zhen said that when she questioned her employer about the legality of the revised employment terms and conditions, WALVO supervisor Fang Wu cautioned her not to speak about it. When she insisted, Wu allegedly scolded and cursed her.

Wu allegedly warned her that “if the workers were to file labor complaints, ‘friends’ of the employer would be told about it and those ‘friends’ sometimes come to the shop for massage.”

In Nov. 2003, Zhen said that supervisor Bei Hua Yuan required Zhen’s co-workers to draft a document in Chinese stating that Zhen had agreed to the reassignment.

Zhen said Yuan asked her to execute a “side agreement in order to obtain a certification in accordance with CNMI law.” Zhen said that while she signed the document, she was never provided a copy of it. The same thing happened to her co-plaintiffs.

During her employment, Zhen said she was required to perform massage services on-site at the Hello Massage or at its customers’ hotels. Zhen said that, although Wu told her that she was not required to sleep with her customers, she heard Wu telling customers that she could provide “service.” Zhen said the “service” referred to by Wu meant sexual service.

In February 2004, WALVO allegedly required her to go to Coral Ocean Point where she was sexually assaulted by a customer. Zhen said she immediately reported the incident to Yuan but she was told not to take any action. Yuan herself and WALVO took no action, Zhen said.

Further, the employer allegedly kept no records of time worked nor required Zhen to fill out accurate time records. Instead Yuan prepared a time sheet “that misstated and falsified Zhen’s working hours to reflect she had only worked 40 hours a week.”

Hello Massage charged customers $50 per hour of massage for outside services, $200 for four hours and $350 for half day (12 hours). When a customer required her services for multiple days, WALVO charged $250 a day.

Zhen said WALVO did not pay her biweekly as required. She was asked to wait to get paid for a period of four or even eight weeks. Although she worked about 10 hours a day, she was never paid any overtime in excess of 40 hours.

Xian, Ping, and Fan experienced a similar fate as Zhen’s under WALVO, court documents said. Xian and Ping arrived on Saipan in February 2004 while Fan arrived on the island in December 2003. The plaintiffs said that in no time did they accept money for sexual services.

Fan, for her part, said that she was almost sexually molested when she met a customer at Riviera Resort Hotel. Following that incident, her fear of working off-site increased but she continued to obey WALVO’s instruction because she did not know how to obtain help and was unfamiliar with labor regulations.

The plaintiffs accused WALVO of failure to pay overtime and hourly wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Minimum Wage and Hour Act. WALVO is also accused of breach of contract, violation of the CNMI Nonresident Workers Act, and negligence.

The plaintiffs said WALVO exposed them to sexual assault by requiring them to work beyond 40 hours a week, intimidating them and pressuring them against pursuing claims against the company, failing to screen customer calls prior to sending them for massage services, failing to warn customers they were not available for sexual services, suggesting that they would be available for sex, failing to report actual or attempted sexual assaults to authorities, and failing to develop policies to protect its employees.

Torres said that WALVO’s breaches of its duty caused them to fear for their safety, resulting in significant emotional distress, and caused them to incur damages in an amount to be proven in trial.

Further, he said that “WALVO’s breaches…were attended by circumstances of fraud and malice and utter disregard of plaintiffs’ rights and safety, thereby entitling them to punitive damages as well as actual damages.”