Court rules in favour of CCC over IPI casino licence

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has suspended a stay on the Commonwealth Casino Commission’s move to revoke Imperial Pacific International’s licence.

Northern Mariana Islands.- The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled in favour of the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) in its appeal against a US District Court order that prevented it from revoking Imperial Pacific International’s (IPI) casino licence. The Ninth Circuit’s decision sends the case back to the District Court for further proceedings.

The five-page order state: “The District Court’s order enjoining the commission from proceeding with license revocation proceedings against IPI and mandating arbitration is reversed, and the matter is remanded to the District Court for proceedings consistent with this disposition.” This ruling gives the CCC the authority to proceed with its intended actions regarding IPI’s licence.

The appeal was filed by the CCC last October after Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted IPI’s motion to seek arbitration in its dispute with the CCC over its force majeure defence for the non-payment of casino licence fees. She also granted IPI’s request for an injunction barring the CCC from conducting a withdrawal hearing.

According to The Saipan Tribune, the Ninth Circuit found that the District Court had erred in agreeing with IPI’s argument that it was entitled to arbitration based on its Casino License Agreement. The order states that the District Court incorrectly concluded that the force majeure clause would be invalidated if IPI could not submit its defence to arbitration. 

The order clarifies that IPI has multiple avenues to present its force majeure defence, including in a revocation proceeding before the commission, through arbitration for covered disputes or in a civil proceeding before the Commonwealth Superior Court.

IPI motion to dismiss discrimination suit denied

In another case, the US District Court for the NMI has rejected the casino operator’s request for the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by three former workers. They demanded an unspecified amount of damages and a jury trial after accusing the company of discrimination. 

Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona had previously dismissed the petition, however, the plaintiffs were given the opportunity to file a second, amended complaint. Manglona has now ruled that Turkish workers presented sufficient evidence to support their allegations. The plaintiffs, Özcan Genç, Hasan Gökçe, and Süleyman Köş, claim through attorney Richard Miller that IPI committed discrimination based on their nationality.

According to the lawsuit, the company hired other construction workers, including Taiwanese workers under the H-2B visa programme, to work at the Garapan Palace Casino. The Taiwanese workers had the same or similar level of skills, qualifications and experience as the plaintiffs but were paid higher wages, in some cases nearly twice as much, the lawsuit alleges.