Harrah’s Las Vegas agreed to pay $850,000 to settle two employment class actions that accused it of underpaying workers.
Kimberly Daprizio v. Harrah’s Las Vegas was filed in April 2010 by non-exempt dealers and dual-rate supervisors in Harrah’s Las Vegas’ table games department, who accused the casino of not paying them for attending pre-shift meetings.
The matter was dismissed with prejudice in September 2013, amid doubts that Daprizio properly represented the class. Daprizio appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where it eventually was stayed pending the settlement agreement.
Meanwhile, Daprizio’s legal counsel, the Thierman in September 2013 filed a similar class action initiated by co-plaintiffs Nicole McDonagh and David Grucello. That one accused Harrah’s of not paying overtime, not paying dual-rate supervisors for time spent on training and evaluations, and improperly rounding workers’ hours.
The federal court in June 2014 conditionally certified the federal claims regarding pay for dealers and dual-rate supervisors during pre-shift meetings, but denied collective treatment for training, evaluation and improper rounding of hours claims. The court also dismissed Nevada statutory claims for not paying overtime.
Some 185 employees of Harrah’s Las Vegas, including 22 dual-rate supervisors, opted to join the class action. The plaintiff class seeks to represent all current and former hourly paid dealers and dual-rate supervisors who worked for Harrah’s Las Vegas from Sept. 23, 2007, through June 30, 2010, and June 30, 2014, respectively.
With the two cases lingering, and legal costs rising, both parties initiated settlement negotiations in February 2015, but talks quickly broke down, even when mediated.
The parties tried a second round of mediation in November 2015, and eventually agreed upon the current settlement terms.
The settlement agreement defines the settlement class as all current and former hourly paid dealers who worked for Harrah’s Las Vegas from Sept. 23, 2007, through June 30, 2010, and all current and former dual-rate supervisors who worked for Harrah’s Las Vegas at any time from Sept. 23, 2007, through June 30, 2014.
A maximum $850,000 will be distributed as payments to class members, including payroll and withholding taxes, settlement administrative costs, employer payroll taxes, $35,000 in enhancements for the class representatives Daprizio, Nicole McDonagh and David Grucello, who filed the initial complaints, and attorney’s fees and legal costs.
Qualifying class members will be paid based on the total number of shifts each class member worked during the class period. No more than 25 percent of the gross settlement, $212,500, will be paid as attorney’s fees, plus $50,000 for litigation costs.
Settlement payments will be distributed based upon 50 percent of wage amounts and 50 percent of liquidated damages and interest per class claim paid.
The maximum $850,000 settlement will be reduced by the pro rata amounts for class members who might opt out of the settlement or who do not file timely and valid claim forms during the claims period.
The CPT Group will administer the settlement agreement.
U.S Magistrate Judge Carl Hoffman on Sept. 14 preliminarily approved the settlement agreement, for which a final approval hearing is scheduled Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.
