Grand Mariana Hotel and Casino under construction on Saipan Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Mark Rabago
Seven Chinese construction workers, who were subjected to forced labour while working on a Northern Marianas cnmi casino casino-resort project, have been awarded $US 5.91-million in a court judgment.
The CNMI District Court entered the default judgment after the seven workers sued Imperial Pacific International, and its subcontractors, for various violations, including human trafficking.
The court described Imperial Pacific's mistreatment of the workers as "appalling" and noted the company was the driving force behind the "egregious conditions" faced by the plaintiffs.
Specifically, the plaintiffs paid high recruitment fees to go from China to Saipan, based on false promises of high wages and good conditions.
They regularly worked over 12 hours per day, and sometimes performed 24-hour shifts, while paid below the minimum wage, or sometimes nothing at all.
Inside the Imperial Pacific Casino in Saipan, CNMI. 30 September 2019. Photo: Imperial Pacific Casino
The workers were brought into the CNMI on tourist visas, with the employer taking their passports, and housing them in squalid conditions.
Whether the workers ever receive the money is another matter, because last month the casino's gaming licence was suspended and the company ordered to pay big fines.
Imperial Pacific has to pay $US6.6 million in penalties, as well as $US18.6 million in annual casino fees.
The Commonwealth Casino Commission board slapped the company with an indefinite suspension of its gaming licence and ordered it to pay the penalty within six months.
The penalties stem from five consolidated complaints the Casino Commission lodged against Imperial Pacific.
They include failing to pay the fees; failing to settle accounts with vendors; not complying with the minimum capital requirements and failing to contribute $US40 million community benefit fund money in 2018 and 2019, as required under the casino licence agreement.