Garment lawsuit moved to Saipan • SGMA says Hawaii court’s decision will help speed up litigation

The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association’s (SGMA) yesterday applauded a decision by the U.S. District Court in Hawaii to move a class action lawsuit against the industry back to Saipan, saying that it will result in a more efficient and speedy resolution to the litigation.

SGMA executive director Richard A. Pierce reacted enthusiastically to the June 27th news of the court’s transfer order that mandates that the case be heard by Saipan’s U.S. District Court.

“As a trade association with a membership involved in this unfortunate litigation, SGMA feels the same, I believe, as do the Saipan attorneys representing our membership. This move from the Los Angeles Central District Court, to the Hawaii District Court, to the Saipan District Court, is in everyone’s best interest,” said Mr. Pierce.

The case should never have been transferred to Hawaii from Los Angeles without first thoroughly determining the matter of personal jurisdiction over the various defendants, said Hawaii federal court Chief Judge David Alan Ezra in the Transfer Order. Furthermore, it should not have speculated on the plaintiffs’ ability to receive a fair jury trial in Saipan.

Judge Ezra ordered the case be transferred to Saipan where several pending motions will be re-scheduled.

While not named as a defendant, SGMA has been subpoenaed in the class action, and this has prompted a response from the association’s executive director as well.

“We all know that in the past there have been some factories that have not paid their workers properly and that some of them have been subject to some workplace and dormitory safety deficiencies,” said Mr. Pierce.
“Outside of any pending labor cases, these workers have been paid, or are being paid, and the occupational safety situations have been corrected to the point of federal officials’ action where voluntary partnerships have been enacted.”

According to Pierce, Milberg & Weiss, the plaintiffs counsel, wants to now state and prove that this has not been the case, that these violations continue to be the case, and are the case to the point of class action.

“They are trying to prove that every worker from every factory that has ever worked here in the last 10 years is due money from their employer, plus attorneys’ fees, settlement costs and surveillance installation. What I especially resent is that Milberg & Weiss thinks they can use the SGMA to do that. SGMA purposely seeks to approach and identify problems in our industry. Milberg & Weiss are somehow trying to show that this translates into proof that we are a part of a conspiracy to hide the very problems we are trying to alleviate. They are also attempting to prove that the buyers and retailers in America are also somehow a party to all of this grand scheme.”

“We are somehow to be the ‘glue’ in proving to the court that because we try as hard as we can to improve our members’ workplaces and profits, we therefore are, without a doubt, a ‘mastermind’ in twisting our work as a trade association into the art of deceit and human rights violations,” Mr. Pierce added.

SGMA is a reformist trade association that seeks change in practice through confrontation as well as education, said Mr. Pierce.

“Just as Hawaii Judge Ezra made sense of Milberg & Weiss’ attempt to twist a system into their favor by filing suit somewhere other than where it should be heard, we hope that our association is understood for what it represents and has accomplished,” concluded Pierce.