Turkish workers file motion to modify IPI’s automatic stay

Former Imperial Pacific International LLC Turkish workers, the same persons who are suing the casino investor for breach of contract claims, have filed a motion asking the bankruptcy court to modify the automatic stay that has been in place on all IPI court proceedings.

The motion, submitted by the group’s lawyer Richard C. Miller, was filed last Friday, May 17, in an attempt “for the limited purpose of completing the damages phase of the civil litigation.”

By doing so, it would be “permitting the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to hold a hearing on plaintiffs’ fully briefed second motion for entry of default judgment on the breach of contract claim (March 19, 2024, ECF No. 109) and to issue judgment.”

The document also stated that “plaintiffs do not seek modification to allow them to execute on the judgment.”

Four years ago, the first filing against the Saipan casino was made by Turkish nationals Ozcan Genc, Hasan Gokce, and Suleyman Kos, who sounded the alarm in the community about IPI’s mistreatment of laborers.

In their new motion, “… the plantiffs respectfully request that the bankruptcy court issues the following orders: One, that the automatic stay is modified to allow the litigation in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to go forward in Genc et al. v. IPI, Case No. 20-cv-00031 for all purposes through final judgment, including all appeals; two, that any such judgment shall not be enrolled as a judicial lien, pending further order of this court; three, that in the event plaintiffs receive a judgment in their favor, they shall not proceed with any collection efforts except through the bankruptcy proceeding pending further order of this court.”