Poker dealers aren’t usually the ones taking down six-figure pots (although they often hand them out), so a $100,000 payout was a very welcomed piece of news for a group of workers in Las Vegas earlier this week.
Following a class action lawsuit brought against the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino by 66 dealers, a judge has ruled that compensation should be paid in lieu of unfair working conditions forced upon the workers.
No One Works for Free
The original lawsuit, which was filed under by Judith Smith in November 2014, alleged that the casino had forced the dealers to complete off-the-clock duties without any pay.
Submitted to Clark County Court, this case was subsequently removed to Federal Court and filed as a joint settlement motion on July 7.
At the center of the lawsuit was the claim that dealers were forced to attend meetings and travel to various pre-work engagements, such as dropping off uniforms, without getting paid.
Eventually, however, the document was reviewed and then given the green light which meant the workers were entitled to $100,000 in compensation.
Broken down into parts, Mandalay Bay was ordered to pay $70,000 to class members, $25,000 in attorney fees and a further $5,000 to Smith.
Following the case, Elayana Youchah of law firm Jackson Lewis and representing Mandalay Bay, had no comment. Following a review of the case, Mandalay Bay later stated that it didn’t assume any wrongdoing with regards to lack of payment.
Regardless of any denial of assumed liability, the dealers have managed to secure a timely bankroll boost.
Moreover, their actions should serve as a marker for other poker dealers working under testing conditions in Las Vegas.
Vegas Poker on the Up
In other Vegas news, while Mandalay Bay was forced to give away $100,000 of its recent profits. However, the city of Las Vegas was smiling after a successful month of poker activity.
According to a recent report released by Nevada’s gaming authority, the state’s 70 poker rooms netted $15,840,000 in June, 2015.
This figure represents a 4.46 percent increase compared to the same period in 2014.
This comparative upswing is good news for the state’s poker rooms following a tricky period in 2015.
Overall, revenues have been up and down for much of the year, but with June proving to be a fruitful month, operators are now hoping the second half of 2015 will prove a much more lucrative time for poker rooms and casinos in general.
