Workers unions representing over 65,000 Las Vegas-area based casino employees recently accused some resort operators of putting the health and safety of workers at risk. It said on Monday that the employees were being put at the risk of death and illness during the pandemic.

Improper security measures

The unions said that the employers are skimping on essential security measures like mandating the use of face masks. Culinary Union executive Geoconda Arguello-Kline noted that the casino workers,

“want to work, but they want to work safe. We’re going to do whatever we need to do to protect these workers, these families and this community.”

The lawsuit was filed in a US District Court in Las Vegas. It does not quote the death of a 51-year-old porter working with Caesars Palace as well as the union members’ diagnosis of COVID-19 after they came back to work on June 4. The daughter of the deceased employee Adolfo Fernandez, Irma, said that her father was worried that he could become sick when he goes back to work.

What does the lawsuit suggest?

The complaint highlights the troubles that employees went through in Harrah’s Las Vegas eatery, MGM Grand Resorts, and Bellagio. It says that these properties have been operating for the past three weeks without mandating face masks for the guests that could help in preventing the spread of the virus. It also seeks a court order that could force resorts to adopt these basic safety measures under the federal collective bargaining law.

Caesars Entertainment, which operates Harrah’s did not comment on the lawsuit. However, their spokesperson acknowledged the death of an employee due to coronavirus without naming Fernandez. It said that the company officials have not determined how the employee contracted the virus. It said that some of his co-workers have been sent on paid leave so they can self-isolate.

The complaint suggests that even in the light of ample evidence that facial coverings in public areas is important, the casino operators chose to ignore this essential step. Instead of mandating a facial covering, they only ‘encouraged’ clients to use them.