The U.S District Court for the NMI has issued an abstract judgment notice\u2014essentially a lien\u2014on all real properties owned by Imperial Pacific International LLC in favor of the seven construction workers who are suing IPI over labor violations and human trafficking.<\/p>\n
Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy of the District Court for the NMI issued the abstract of judgment notice against IPI last week. The notice creates a lien on all real property owned by the defendant and gives the seven workers priority over all other liens. <\/p>\n
By definition, an abstract judgment appears as a lien, or claim, against a defendant\u2019s publicly recorded property. If the judgment is not satisfied in the ordered time period, the lienholder can force a property sale to satisfy the judgment. <\/p>\n
According to the court\u2019s notice, the lien is effective unless satisfied for a period of 20 years and may be renewed by filing a notice of renewal. <\/p>\n
The amount of judgment is $5,430,595.58, plus post-judgment interest at the applicable federal rate, plus attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n
Recently, IPI asked the federal court to reconsider its $5,915,595.98 default judgment in favor of the seven construction workers.<\/p>\n
In her order last month, District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, awarded the plaintiffs a total of $2,957,797.79 in compensatory damages, and $2,957,797.79 in punitive damages. The judge also awarded the plaintiffs a total of $332,350 for emotional distress, $65,945.79 for lost income, $359,502 for future lost income, and $2,200,000 for pain and suffering.<\/p>\n
The seven workers\u2014Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan\u2014were previous employees of IPI\u2019s former contractor and subcontractor, MCC International and Gold Mantis.<\/p>\n
The original complaint was filed against Gold Mantis Construction Decoration (CNMI) in December 2018. <\/p>\n
An amended complaint was filed in March 2019 to include MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co. and IPI. It also added a claim for forced labor under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.<\/p>\n
To date, the workers have already settled with Gold Mantis and MCC International.<\/p>\n
In its amended complaint, the workers asked the federal court to award them $3.86 million in compensatory damages and $7.72 million in punitive damages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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