Chinese workers awarded US$5.4 million over ‘inhumane conditions’ at Saipan casino site

A US court has awarded a total of US$5.43 million to seven Chinese workers who were forced to endure “extreme, dangerous and inhumane work conditions” at the construction site of a casino and resort on the Pacific island of Saipan.

Chief Judge Ramona Manglona of the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, on Monday ordered Hong Kong-based Imperial Pacific International (IPI) to pay compensation for the workers’ lost income and future lost income, emotional distress, pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages.

Imperial Pacific International operates the US$3.1 billion casino and resort on Saipan. Its construction was contracted to four Chinese companies that brought in workers from China under a “tourist visa waiver programme” issued by the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Chinese workers had paid high recruitment fees to travel to Saipan for the building project, with the promise of good pay and conditions. But after having their passports confiscated they were forced to work long hours at below the US minimum wage and were denied medical care for injuries and threatened with deportation and even death, the judge found.

The judge described IPI’s conduct as “appalling” and said the labourers were forced to work under “egregious conditions”.

Manglona said her ruling was made after IPI had repeatedly failed to comply with court orders to exchange information with the lawsuit’s plaintiffs.