Asian workers, including Pinoys, sue casino employer in CNMI
Some six weeks after suing the US government for supposedly denying their work petitions, over 500 Filipinos and other Asian workers also filed a lawsuit against their casino employer in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for allegedly lying to them about their immigration status for at least 18 months.
Through their counsel Samuel Mok, the foreign workers filed the lawsuit in federal court against Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments Ltd., owner of Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, and the casino's majority shareholder Mega Stars Overseas Ltd.
Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino is the only operating casino in the US territory.
On December 8, 2014, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied the so-called transitional CNMI-only worker (CW-1) petitions for these over 500 foreign workers at the casino.
USCIS is an agency under the US Department of Homeland Security that deals with immigration benefits.
The workers, most of them from the Philippines, stated in their complaint that Hong Kong Entertainment and Mega Stars knew at least 18 months before December 8, 2014 that their respective CW-1 employment petitions were in jeopardy of being denied due to several warnings that USCIS issued in the form of “notices of intent to deny and notices of intent to revoke.”
But the casino employer, according to the workers, deliberately withheld this information from them out of fear they would stop working and transfer to other employers.
The workers said this would have shut down the casino business operations and ultimately cost Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino a huge sum of money.
The employees are seeking relief for fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation and wrongful termination.
The plaintiffs include Eric F. Dona, Donny Rivera, Melinda Rivera, Chung-Liang Chiu, Shingo Kajiwara, Shao Han, Lorenzo Pacia III, Didith Pacia, Ming Yang Yuan, Chuan Hui Xu, Flordeliza F. Camiguing, Jovelyn F. Reyes, Richard Julio L. Reyes, and Ernest Y. Rivera.
The 500 workers are unnamed co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Most of the plaintiffs also have US citizen children.
Their lawyer asked the US District Court for the NMI to prevent the casino owners from terminating the plaintiffs or removing their name from an administrative appeal.
The workers are asking the court to declare as “false” Hong Kong Entertainment’s statement that it was legally permissible for the plaintiffs to continue working even though USCIS had denied their CW-1 petitions.
They were referring to the human resources director’s January 19, 2015 letter stating that any worker who “disagreed” with Hong Kong Entertainment’s claim that it was “not unlawful” to return to work would be deemed to have “resigned” his or her job and processed out of the company.
“At the time of this statement, HKE knew that federal immigration regulations prohibited a CW-1 worker from continuing employment once his/her CW-1 petition was formally denied,” the workers’ lawyer said.
In December 2014, over 500 foreign workers at Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino filed a separate lawsuit in federal court against US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other federal officials over USCIS’s denial of the casino’s 197 CW-1 petitions involving 693 beneficiaries.
A separate lawsuit was also filed in federal court by casino owner Hong Kong Entertainment’s president and board chairman Kwan Man against US Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez and other federal Labor officials.
That lawsuit was for allegedly violating the casino employer’s due process right over the assessment of civil penalties of $191,400 for violating the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino is the largest private employer on Tinian, one of the main islands in the CNMI. The CNMI’s capital island of Saipan is some three hours away by plane from Manila. Most of the foreign workers in the CNMI are from the Philippines. —KBK, GMA News
Through their counsel Samuel Mok, the foreign workers filed the lawsuit in federal court against Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments Ltd., owner of Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino, and the casino's majority shareholder Mega Stars Overseas Ltd.
Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino is the only operating casino in the US territory.
On December 8, 2014, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied the so-called transitional CNMI-only worker (CW-1) petitions for these over 500 foreign workers at the casino.
USCIS is an agency under the US Department of Homeland Security that deals with immigration benefits.
The workers, most of them from the Philippines, stated in their complaint that Hong Kong Entertainment and Mega Stars knew at least 18 months before December 8, 2014 that their respective CW-1 employment petitions were in jeopardy of being denied due to several warnings that USCIS issued in the form of “notices of intent to deny and notices of intent to revoke.”
But the casino employer, according to the workers, deliberately withheld this information from them out of fear they would stop working and transfer to other employers.
The workers said this would have shut down the casino business operations and ultimately cost Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino a huge sum of money.
The employees are seeking relief for fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation and wrongful termination.
The plaintiffs include Eric F. Dona, Donny Rivera, Melinda Rivera, Chung-Liang Chiu, Shingo Kajiwara, Shao Han, Lorenzo Pacia III, Didith Pacia, Ming Yang Yuan, Chuan Hui Xu, Flordeliza F. Camiguing, Jovelyn F. Reyes, Richard Julio L. Reyes, and Ernest Y. Rivera.
The 500 workers are unnamed co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Most of the plaintiffs also have US citizen children.
Their lawyer asked the US District Court for the NMI to prevent the casino owners from terminating the plaintiffs or removing their name from an administrative appeal.
The workers are asking the court to declare as “false” Hong Kong Entertainment’s statement that it was legally permissible for the plaintiffs to continue working even though USCIS had denied their CW-1 petitions.
They were referring to the human resources director’s January 19, 2015 letter stating that any worker who “disagreed” with Hong Kong Entertainment’s claim that it was “not unlawful” to return to work would be deemed to have “resigned” his or her job and processed out of the company.
“At the time of this statement, HKE knew that federal immigration regulations prohibited a CW-1 worker from continuing employment once his/her CW-1 petition was formally denied,” the workers’ lawyer said.
In December 2014, over 500 foreign workers at Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino filed a separate lawsuit in federal court against US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other federal officials over USCIS’s denial of the casino’s 197 CW-1 petitions involving 693 beneficiaries.
A separate lawsuit was also filed in federal court by casino owner Hong Kong Entertainment’s president and board chairman Kwan Man against US Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez and other federal Labor officials.
That lawsuit was for allegedly violating the casino employer’s due process right over the assessment of civil penalties of $191,400 for violating the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino is the largest private employer on Tinian, one of the main islands in the CNMI. The CNMI’s capital island of Saipan is some three hours away by plane from Manila. Most of the foreign workers in the CNMI are from the Philippines. —KBK, GMA News
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