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IPI payments to USDOL on time
Casino operator Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC continues to pay in full and on time its scheduled back wages payment to the U.S. Department of Labor as part of a consent judgment.
According to IPI’s 21st status report submitted to the U.S. District Court for the NMI the casino operator paid “on time and in full” its third back wages payment to the department’s Wage and Hour Division last June 1, with the fourth payment due on July 1. Six more payments of $164,270.08 will be made to DOL, ending on Dec. 1 this year. IPI lawyer Michael W. Dotts submitted the report to the U.S. District Court last June 7.
In the “Housing and Food” section of his report, Dotts said that IPI continues to maintain power and water at some housing as some contract workers continue to live there. Dotts also clarified that IPI is not providing food to these employees, as IPI “has never provided food to CW employees.” CW refers to the immigration visa given to foreign workers that allows them to work in the CNMI.
As for repatriations, Dotts said there is nothing new to report. In the company’s 20th report to the court, Dotts said that two Malaysian employees will be repatriated in August, and that IPI’s Philippine foreign workers “will likely be repatriated in July.”
IPI agreed to an entry of consent judgment with former U.S. DOL Secretary Rene Alexander Acosta in April 2019. In addition to the $1.48 owed to DOL, the court ordered IPI to pay $1.58 million in liquidated damages and $200,000 in civil penalties.
