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Worker loses right to transfer after unsuccessful EEOC claim
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Posted on Feb 20 2005
A former employee of Hotel Nikko Saipan was denied the right to transfer to a new employer after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rejected the labor discrimination complaint she had filed against the company.
Nonresident worker Violeta Aggari and her dependents were ordered to depart the Commonwealth at the expense of Hotel Nikko.
Labor hearing officer Herbert Soll also referred the matter to the Division of Immigration for necessary action, in case Aggari refuses to leave voluntarily.
Records showed that Aggari filed a complaint for employment discrimination with the EEOC. On July 19,2004, the commission issued a determination rejecting the claim. EEOC, however, did not make any substantive findings, and instead granted the complainant the right to file a lawsuit in court within 90 days of the rejection.
Aggari did not exercise this right, but she filed a request for transfer hearing with the Labor Department.
In an administrative order, Soll noted that the existing agreement between the CNMI Labor and EEOC allows complainants to remain in the Commonwealth and to have temporary employment while their EEOC cases are pending.
Citing EEOC’s instruction and Aggari’s failure to bring her complaint to court, Soll concluded, “To grant a transfer to a person in the position of the complainant would suggest that a nonresident worker could file an unsuccessful claim with EEOC and be granted a transfer. That would be contrary to the intent of the Labor regulations.” (Agnes E. Donato)
