Labor dismisses worker’s ‘frivolous’ complaint

The Department of Labor has referred a garment worker for possible deportation after her complaints were dismissed for being “frivolous.”

Labor hearing officer Linn H. Asper denied the request of nonresident worker Wang Qing Yun for a transfer relief and an award of unpaid wages.

Wang was referred to the Division of Immigration for voluntary repatriation. She will face deportation if she fails to depart from the Commonwealth within 10 days after the issuance of the order.

Records showed that Wang was employed as a garment worker until her labor permit expired on Sept. 4, 2003.

She requested a three-month extension of her employment after the 2003 expiration date. But her employer denied her request.

On Sept. 17, 2003, the employee filed a labor complaint on grounds that her work was too stressful due to a high garment quota; she had to work 15 minutes a day without pay; and her supervisors yelled at her.

She also maintained that the food and living quarters provided by her employer were of poor quality, and that she had to pay a large recruitment fee and did not earn enough in Saipan.

In her complaint, Wang asked to be allowed to transfer to a new employer and to be paid for 142 hours of alleged “off-clock” work for the garment firm.

Asper noted that Wang’s complaint was identical to hundreds of other complaints filed by nonresident garment workers with the assistance of agent/interpreter Leung Kuan.

The hearing officer added that, although Wang participated in her employer’s in-house grievance process, she did not make any formal complaint to the department about her employment during the three years she worked for the company.

“[The] complaints lodged by the employee are either unfounded…, not a violation of law…, or irrelevant. [Wang’s] complaint is not justified in fact or law. Therefore complainant is equally or more at fault than respondent in this dispute and is not entitled to transfer relief,” Asper said.

He also said Wang’s current temporary work authorization should be revoked and she should be required to go back to her home country.

But he did not bar Wang from returning to the CNMI as a nonresident worker.

“It appears to [me] that the employee has been exploited by agent/interpreter Leung and that forced repatriation is sufficient penalty for her frivolous complaint,” Asper said.