Garment worker told to leave NMI

Another former worker of Marianas Garment Manufacturer Inc. was ordered to depart the Commonwealth for filing a frivolous complaint.

The Department of Labor said Yin Yi Hua had 30 days to leave the CNMI, or his name would be forwarded to the Division of Immigration for possible deportation.

In an administrative order, Labor hearing officer Jerry Cody also barred Yin from working in the CNMI as a nonresident worker for four years, starting from the date of his departure.

Furthermore, Yin was ordered to pay the attorney’s fees incurred by MGM in defending the case against the complainant.

Cody’s order stemmed from a labor case filed by Yin in Aug. 5, 2003, one month before his third employment contract with MGM was to expire.

In his labor complaint, Yin alleged that MGM’s cafeteria food, drinking water, bathrooms, and factory conditions were unsanitary or inadequate for its workers.

Labor investigators looked into Yin’s complaint, along with similar claims filed by 11 other former MGM employees, but found no evidence supporting the claims.

At the hearing, Yin repeated and expanded on his complaints about work conditions at MGM, with his evidence based solely on his own testimony. In its defense, MGM presented documentation to prove its compliance with workplace health and safety regulations.

In his order, Cody concluded that Yin either failed to prove his allegations or alleged facts that do not amount to labor law violations. Not only did Yin’s case lack merit, but it was also frivolous, Cody added.

He noted that Yin’s primary purpose in filing the complaint was the ulterior motive of avoiding the 45-day transfer period he would have to follow with his contract’s expiration in September 2003, as well as to obtain the right to work under a temporary work authorization.

“The purpose of the complaint was not to resolve the boilerplate allegations; indeed, Yin had no intention to return to MGM, thus he had no incentive to attempt to negotiate a resolution of issues under the company’s internal grievance process. The true motive in filing the complaint was to enable Yin to obtain TWA status so that he would have an unlimited time to obtain work, rather than a set 45-day deadline,” Cody said.

The Labor Department’s Administrative Hearing Office issued a similar order against former MGM worker Xiao Yang Jun, on July 20, 2005, after finding that Yin’s former co-worker filed a frivolous complaint.