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Fine vs garment firm increases to $30K
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Posted on Oct 21 2004
The fine imposed on a garment factory for violating regulations of the Coastal Resources Management Office has reached $30,000 and continues to balloon as the company refuses to settle the penalty.
Martin Cabrera, CRMO’s enforcement chief, said Hyunjin Saipan Inc.’s fine has reached $30,000 last Wednesday. He urged the company to settle the penalty, or the CRMO would slap the firm with higher administrative fines.
The CRMO had decided to impose a $10,000-fine on Hyunjin after the company renovated a warehouse into a 10-unit barracks without first securing the necessary permit earlier this year.
Before the imposition of the fine, CRMO documents showed that the agency warned the company to stop the construction and file the necessary permit application. Hyunjin, however, ignored the warning, according to the CRMO.
In a hearing, the CRMO rejected the company’s defense that it had to expedite renovation work after the company hired 150 of the garment workers involved in the settled class action suit.
Records showed that the company belatedly submitted an application for a permit amendment.
With the company failing to settle the fine, the CRMO issued last Oct. 12 an order imposing additional fine of $2,500 for each day that Hyunjin fails to settle the $10,000 penalty.
Noting that Hyunjin committed violations and settled its penalties in the past, the CRMO branded the company’s violations and failure to settle the new penalty as a “blatant disregard” of the agency’s regulatory requirements.
