Court approves $45K Pacific Rim settlement in workers’ class action

The U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands has given final approval to a $45,000 settlement between Pacific Rim Land Development LLC and former workers who sued the company over a 2018 mass layoff connected to the Imperial Pacific International casino-resort construction project.

Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona approved the settlement during a final approval hearing Thursday, Aug. 27, and directed class counsel to comply with the settlement terms, including an additional requirement to post updated contact information on counsel’s website.

Several of those who brought the case were in attendance at the federal courthouse in Gualo Rai. They declined to comment when approached by Marianas Press after the proceedings and were later seen speaking with plaintiffs’ attorney Cong Nie outside the courthouse.

Court records identify Martin Dela Cruz Jr., Martin Dela Cruz and Christopher Leedelrio as the named plaintiffs in the class action against Pacific Rim. The lawsuit was filed June 14, 2024, alleging a violation of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act.

The plaintiffs alleged that Pacific Rim, a construction contractor for IPI’s casino-hotel resort complex, terminated at least 180 full-time construction workers in a mass layoff after Pacific Rim and IPI mutually agreed to terminate their construction contract. They alleged the mass layoff violated the WARN Act.

The court subsequently certified a class consisting of former Pacific Rim employees who were assigned to work at the IPI casino and resort construction site in Garapan in 2018 and whose employment was terminated effective between Oct. 2 and Oct. 31, 2018.

The litigation had reached the summary judgment stage when the parties participated in a settlement conference Jan. 21, 2026, and reached a settlement.

According to the court’s May 27 order granting preliminary approval, the total settlement amount is $45,000 and will be apportioned among class members based on their individual wage rates reflected in Pacific Rim records produced during discovery.

The settlement agreement estimated that “most class members’ shares are in the range of $370 to $700.”

The court records state that $1,500 of the settlement is designated for plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees. The agreement also provides incentive payments of $300 each to Martin Dela Cruz Jr. and Martin Dela Cruz and $600 to Leedelrio.

In granting preliminary approval, Manglona found that the proposed settlement appeared likely to provide adequate relief to the class and treat class members equitably.

The court noted the litigation risks facing the plaintiffs, including what the parties described as the novelty of their legal theory, the lack of on-point case law and unresolved issues involving Pacific Rim’s affirmative defenses.

At Thursday’s final approval hearing, Nie informed the court that he was no longer associated with Banes, Horey & Miller LLC and requested that settlement checks be distributed through his new firm.

Pacific Rim attorney Colin Thompson, who appeared by video conference, did not object to Nie’s firm handling distribution of the settlement funds but expressed concerns about how the distribution would be carried out.

Nie proposed distributing the checks through his new firm and said the firm would retain a process server to help locate class members. According to the court minutes, Nie had been unable to locate the remaining class members except for one who had been located and was present at the hearing.

Nie told the court that, with the settlement approved, the funds would be disbursed from the client trust account. Settlement funds will be distributed to class members for whom counsel has current contact information, while class members without current contact information or who cannot be reached will have six months to come forward and claim their disbursement checks.

Nie also told the court that his new firm would publish notice on its website with an updated deadline for class members to claim their settlement funds and updated contact information identifying his new firm, rather than Banes, Horey & Miller LLC, as the point of contact for claims.

Earlier court records showed that 76 class members had been identified and mailed certification notices. Forty did not respond to the notices or had their mail returned as undeliverable.

The court set March 11, 2027, as the deadline for class counsel to file a status report regarding distribution of the settlement funds.