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Employee says Tinian Dynasty has legal obligation for her injuries
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Posted on Sep 07 1999
A kitchen steward who had filed a $10 million suit against the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino said her employer has legal obligation to pay her for the injuries she had suffered as a result of her accident while on duty.
Bensellin John, who had a miscarriage after slipping three times on the hotel’s kitchen floor, on Friday filed a motion at the Superior Court opposing Tinian Dynasty’s move for dismissal of the case.
Tinian Dynasty has said John’s claim for damages should be addressed through the company’s Worker Compensation Policy and not through court remedy. Tinian Dynasty maintained the worker compensation policy provides an exclusive remedy in John’s case.
John’s attorney, Joey Arriola, however, argued that the CNMI’s Worker Compensation law is not intended to “shield an employer from common law liability for injuries he inflicted upon his employee.”
Arriola further argued that his client’s case is an exception to the exclusive remedy provision of the worker compensation law because her injury was obtained “accidentally.”
Tinian Dynasty, Arriola said, should be held liable for what had happened to John because the management was “aware of the hazardous slippery condition” of the hotel’s kitchen floor. (MCM)
