Hong Kong Company Ordered to Pay Chinese Workers $5.4M for Saipan Labor Abuses

Legal and rights advocates say a landmark labor rights ruling earlier this week on the U.S.-administered island of Saipan is likely to have a long-term impact on forced labor disputes.

The move comes amid growing international concern and awareness about rights and labor abuses by Chinese companies operating overseas. On Monday, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands ordered a Hong Kong company to pay seven Chinese construction workers $5.4 million in compensation for forced labor, human trafficking and workplace injuries during their employment on the Imperial Pacific casino construction site in Garapan, Saipan. Chief Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona issued a default judgment on May 24 against Imperial Pacific International (IPI) for forcing the Chinese workers to toil in “extreme, dangerous and inhumane work conditions” on the casino construction site. The workers had been “recruited in China … under false promises,” entered Saipan on tourist visas arranged by the defendants and were housed in “repugnant” dorms, according to the judgment.