DOL pushes for further probe on company

The Department of Labor is pushing for further investigation of a company following initial findings that it is operating without authorization and legal representatives.

DOL hearing officer Jerry Cody, in a June 17 administrative order, said that based on numerous issues raised against L&B Corp., the matter should be remanded to the Division of Labor for investigation.

This came after L&B filed transfer applications for 10 potential employees from May through October 2003, which were cited for deficiencies.

DOL said it received no corrective documents from the employer, prompting it to issue a denial notice for each application in April 2004.

Based on a hearing last May, Cody said it was unclear whether L&B Corp. has a representative or agent in the Commonwealth and whether it is actually managed by its Board of Directors.

“It appears that L&B Corp. has no ‘official’ corporate representative or agent residing in the CNMI at the present time,” he said, noting that its president and vice president appear to reside in South Africa “and have had no contact with L&B’s Saipan operations for many months.”

Cody said that L&B’s local corporate secretary and treasurer and director, Kuan Y. Leung, resigned his corporate title and directorship in October 2003 and as a “local agent” in Jan. 2004. Yet, Cody said that weeks after Kuan resigned, he signed many of the employment contracts involved in the case.

Cody further said that a testimony of one of the 10 appellants, Lin Jin Fu, suggested that he is serving as L&B’s de facto manager on Saipan without DOL’s approval or authorization.

Lin reportedly represented himself as L&B’s “manager” and requested permission to represent the corporation at the appeal hearing.

“Lin presented no written authorization that would entitle him to represent company. Without additional corroborating evidence, I do not find Mr. Lin’s testimony that he is authorized to represent the corporation as manager to be credible,” said Cody.

Lin testified that he has managed L&B’s business operations on Saipan since about January 2003, five months before his permit to be manager was even filed.

In addition, Lin testified that he has had no communication with L&B’s board of directors in many months.

In the order, Cody also denied the permit transfer applications submitted by L&B for 10 nonresident workers, including Lin. The appeal of the denial order is deferred pending resolution of the investigation.