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Saipan OFWs win discrimination suit


GARAPAN, Saipan – Adelyn Lubrico, an overseas Filipino worker in the US island of Saipan, was pregnant when she was fired from her job in 2006 as a quality control checker at a now defunct garment factory owned by the L&T Group of Companies in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Lubrico’s fellow OFWs working in garment factories under the same group of companies were forced to work and eat in segregated facilities, denied adequate housing and, after they complained, were all replaced by Chinese workers. L&T remains as among the CNMI’s largest private employers of OFWs. But the demise of the garment factories helped change for the better the treatment of OFWs and other foreign workers employed by the company. Lubrico and at least 82 other Filipinos and Thais were among the workers who filed discrimination lawsuits against L&T, with the help of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC enforces US federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. The Los Angeles District’s jurisdiction includes Southern and Central California, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island, and the CNMI. On July 28, 2009, the L&T Group of Companies in the CNMI agreed to pay $1.7 million and to provide far reaching and significant injunctive relief to settle a series of lawsuits filed by the EEOC that charged the company with retaliation and discrimination based on national origin, pregnancy and age, all in violation of federal law. "I used to feel so hopeless because of my termination due to my pregnancy. Now, I feel blessed because the EEOC is fair and provided justice to me. I want people to know that you don't have to be popular to have a voice if you are a victim of discrimination," Lubrico said after the signing of the landmark discrimination settlement. The consent decrees were signed by US Federal Court Judge Alex R Munson, resolving the lawsuits filed by the EEOC in the US District Court for the CNMI. EEOC acting chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said the major settlement shows that the EEOC will vigorously protect the rights of all workers, within every reach of its jurisdiction, to be free of discrimination. "The resolutions of these egregious cases bring a measure of justice to the many workers who were retaliated against and otherwise victimized by discriminatory employment practices because of their national origin, age, or pregnancy," Ishimaru said in a statement. The three-year, court-enforced consent decree will resolve four EEOC discrimination lawsuits against the L&T Group of Companies and affiliates: Tan Holdings Corp., Tan Holdings Overseas Inc., Concorde Garment Manufacturing Corp., Micro Pacific Inc., Seasonal Inc., and L&T International Corp. Garment factories owned by L&T had ceased operations ahead of other factories in Saipan as manufacturers decided to move operations in Asian countries like China and Vietnam where the minimum wage was a lot lower, now that these countries can also produce apparel products for the US market. Since March 2009, Saipan no longer has a garment industry to speak of. The industry used to employ at least 20,000, mostly workers from China and the Philippines, before the World Trade Organization lifted trade rules starting in January 2005. Largest case In the largest EEOC case against L&T, Civil Case No. 07-0029, the EEOC charged that L&T discriminated against a class of non-Chinese workers, many of them Filipinos, due to their national origin. The EEOC alleged that employees were forced to work and eat in segregated facilities, denied adequate housing and, after they complained, were all replaced by Chinese workers in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The charging parties in this case were all are non-resident workers hired by the defendants as sewers, but they actually did the work of “packers," who packed the clothing made by Concorde manufacturing facility. Nearly all of the workers were hired in February and March, 2004, under one-year contracts. However, after only a few months, in mid-May 2004, all the charging parties were called into a meeting with human resources officials and were told that they were being laid off because of low sales. Almost all the terminated workers were Filipinos. The EEOC further alleged that these same charging parties were also segregated from Chinese employees during the work day and at lunch. The defendant acknowledged this segregation, saying that it “promoted a harmonious working environment," even though it was a clear violation of federal law. “The Filipino workers were forbidden to use the company cafeteria to eat their lunches, and instead had to bring their lunches to work and eat them outside," the EEOC said. Moreover, the EEOC alleged that defendants further discriminated against non-Chinese workers by refusing to provide them food, lodging and medical care. Retaliation In the first case against L&T, Civil Case No. 06-0031, the EEOC alleged that the employer retaliated against 14 Filipino and Bangladeshi workers when it terminated them because they filed charges of discrimination with the EEOC. The defendants, according to the EEOC, discriminated on the basis of national origin by providing different amounts of benefits to Nepalese, Chinese, Filipino and Bangladeshi employees, and failed to conduct any investigation regarding the claimants’ allegations. Within two or three months after the charge was filed with the EEOC, defendants unlawfully retaliated against the workers by failing to renew their contracts. "Workers should not have to fear losing their job because of their national origin, age or pregnancy, and no one should fear retaliation for coming to the EEOC for help. In addition to the monetary relief secured for the victims in these cases, the employer has made a commitment to ensure equal opportunity for its workers going forward, which is buttressed by the remedial provisions of the consent decree," said EEOC Regional Attorney Anna Y. Park of the agency’s Los Angeles District Office, which has jurisdiction over the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Pregnancy discrimination Another case, Civil Case No. 08-0038, alleged that the employer discriminated against pregnant women by terminating and replacing them with non-pregnant workers. The EEOC said it was prepared to present evidence, had the case proceeded to trial, showing that L&T International Corporation engaged in a pattern of terminating and/or refusing to renew employment contracts of its female employees once they became pregnant. The EEOC was also prepared to present the employer’s own document, which revealed that an employee’s status for her renewal contract was "non-renewal" because she was “8 months pregnant." Moreover, the EEOC was also prepared to show that L&T discriminated against its Filipino employees in assignment of overtime by continuing to give substantial overtime to its Chinese employees while allowing its Filipino employees little to no overtime. Defendants’ payroll records revealed that Chinese employees were receiving significantly more overtime hours per week than Filipino employees. Age discrimination The fourth and final lawsuit, Civil Case No. 08-0037, alleged discrimination against a long-term employee due to age and national origin (Filipino) in violation of the Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The EEOC alleged that an L&T supervisor constantly subjected an employee to age-related verbal harassment, calling the claimant "old." In addition to age-based comments, the employee also had to endure from her supervisor discriminatory comments related to her Filipino national origin. The EEOC further asserts the employee was ultimately fired based on age and national origin. Besides the $1.7 million obtained by the EEOC, the three-year consent decree also requires the companies to institute broad injunctive relief and remedies. These include the hiring of an equal opportunity consultant to train all managers and employees, enjoining the companies from discriminating or retaliating against its employees, reporting all complaints of national origin, age and pregnancy discrimination to the EEOC during the term of the decree, establishing effective policies and procedures, including a complaint procedure for handling discrimination complaints, and posting of a notice of the case at their various facilities. - GMANews.TV
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