Three eateries named in Culinary’s lawsuit
Union says Strip properties unsafe for work
Culinary Local 226 filed a lawsuit against major Strip venues, arguing that hotel-casino properties are not offering safe working conditions amid the pandemic.
The lawsuit focuses on The Signature at the MGM Grand, Sadelle’s Cafe at Bellagio and Guy Fieri’s Las Vegas Kitchen and Bar.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Strip workers who are members of Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, alleges that the venues have not protected their workers, families and community from the spread of the virus and that their response to workers contracting COVID-19 has been “wholly and dangerously inadequate.”
The lawsuit argues that companies that have discovered a COVID-19 positive case among staffers have not properly warned workers, disinfected areas or quarantined those who are thought to have been in proximity to the infected employee.
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief under the Labor-management Relations Act.
Allegations: The Signature and Sadelle’s Cafe
The Culinary and Bartenders unions represent about 60,000 workers combined in Las Vegas and Reno, and they are accusing The Signature of operating an unsafe venue for its employees. At least three valets and bellmen have tested positive.
The lawsuit alleges that crowds are often so large that “employees are required to zig zag through throngs of guests, coming into close proximity to them” and also that the company failed to put up social distancing markings around the bell desk. It also states that the venue failed to put up plexiglass shields until last week.
According to the lawsuit, “The Signature did not immediately close down the work areas in which Sixto
Zermeno worked on June 11 or
June 12, such as the bell desk or the valet booth, so that they could receive special and complete disinfection. It did not immediately warn all potentially affected employees that one of their co-workers had tested positive.”
Hotel-casinos are not required to shut down venues after discovering a positive case among employees. Company responses to positive tests among employees vary case by case.
The lawsuit also accuses Bellagio’s Sadelle’s Cafe of not doing enough to protect its workers.
According to the filing, a food runner at the cafe informed the company that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 11. Despite this and the fact that there are areas in the kitchen where runners “cannot stand more than six feet away from the other runners,” the property “did not institute any new procedures to assist food runners in performing their jobs while socially distancing from one another or from cooks in the kitchen.”
Other employers at the cafe who worked with the Covid-19-positive food runner were not informed of their co-worker’s positive test on June 11 or afterward, and the area did not close for deep cleaning, according to the lawsuit.
The MGM Grand and Bellagio are operated by MGM Resorts International.
In response to the allegations in the union’s lawsuit, MGM Resorts said in a statement Monday that the company has spent months working with health experts to create its health and safety plan. The company said it has offered free testing to all employees before they report to work; required employees to take a COVID-19 test if they exhibit symptoms or are exposed to someone who has tested positive; and have made tests available in other circumstances.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of everyone inside of our properties,” the statement reads.
Allegations: Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar
The lawsuit also accuses Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar, located in the Linq Promenade and co-managed by Harrah’s, of not protecting its workers.
One food runner tested positive for the virus on June 18 after working June 12-14, the lawsuit states. He interacted with other workers during these shifts and on June 12 was included in a “huddle” meeting with cooks and other food runners less than 6 feet away.
Despite knowing that the food runner had tested positive, “Harrah’s did not announce this fact to Guy Fieri workers so that they could take precautions” and did not close the venue until June 20 “after it became clear that there were insufficient workers to run the restaurant,” the lawsuit alleges.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. declined to comment on the merits of the lawsuit but said in a statement Monday that it had acted in accordance with its health and safety protocols when it learned that a restaurant employee had tested positive for COVID-19.
Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.