Imperial Pacific continues to pay back wages

Imperial Pacific has said it continues to pay its scheduled back wages payments in full and on time.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has submitted a status report affirming that it paid its third back wages payment to the department’s Wage and Hour Division on time.

IPI was accused of not complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay its employees during the administration of Donald Browne, who was named chief executive officer of Imperial Pacific International (IPI) last year.

The court ordered IPI to pay $1.58m in liquidated damages and $200,000 in civil penalties. IPI must make six more payments of $164,270.08 to the US Department of Labor before December 1.

IPI’s lawyer Michael W. Dotts said that IPI continues to maintain power and water at some worker housing as some contract workers continue to live on site.

In April, IPI’s gaming licence was suspended indefinitely as the operator failed to comply with regulatory orders.

The Commonwealth Casino Commission board has ordered IPI to pay a penalty of US$6.6m, an annual casino exclusive licence fee of US$15.5m and annual casino regulatory fees of US$3.1m.

According to the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC), IPI violated five orders including a failure to pay its US$3.1m annual regulatory fee in 2020 and failure to comply with an order to settle debts with vendors.