Farha/Townsend stiff dealer?

[MRBAA]

This is just wrong. Players have a right not to tip. Dealers have a right to blog about it. End of story. This idea that casinos somehow are entitled to a code of omerta from non-management employees is neither legally nor ethically justified.

[pocketpared]

Casinos could care less about right and wrong. Their only concern is stripping the most cash from the suckers at the -ev games. If you bet high enough and aren't an advantage player, you can stand on the table, unzip, and urinate in the chip rack. They'll come over and ask you which gourmet restaurant you'd like to dine at that night. This poker dealers comments could end up costing the casino money in an ever increasingly competetive environment. Although casinos are somewhat protective of their dealers regarding abuse and other circumstances, the bottom line is what ultimately governs a casino's actions.

[MRBAA]

I understand this. However she is not in their employ 24/7/365. Clearly she is not allowed to berate the players at the table for not tipping, while she is working. However when she goes home/is not working for them, she is allowed to blog about her experiences and the casino has no right to prevent her from doing so just because "it's bad for business".

[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
I understand this. However she is not in their employ 24/7/365. Clearly she is not allowed to berate the players at the table for not tipping, while she is working. However when she goes home/is not working for them, she is allowed to blog about her experiences and the casino has no right to prevent her from doing so just because "it's bad for business".

[/ QUOTE ]

thats incorrect, she is "disclosing trade secrets", and if this is included in her employment contract (it usually is) then she has abused the employee/employer relationship. There have been numerous court cases brought by Disney, Apple, Microsoft, and countless smaller companies where the employer won after the employee disclosed trade secrets, or even created strife between workers.

She would be free to say whatever she wants if she was let go I assume (unless there is a termination clause that says otherwise, my employment contract makes me not discuss my employer for 1 year as an example), but not while she is an employee.

[spacemanspiff]

[ QUOTE ]
thats incorrect, she is "disclosing trade secrets",

[/ QUOTE ]

TT, I'm new here (lurk mostly) and I respect you and enjoy your posts immensely. But this statement is over the top. There's a huge difference between giving away Coke's secret recipe and reporting the goings-on of a public cardroom. I imagine that the Bellagio would prefer that she not post this info and I get that you find it distasteful. I confess that I don't really care either way beyond thinking that it's kind of chintzy to not tip ever but it seems like you're going too far here.

[Jeffage]

I know of people who have been fired from their jobs for blogging about their employer - and these are people who were blogging anonymously and someone told on them. Most employers can fire you for pretty much any reason - you are "at will" in most cases, and many employee agreements have a clause that covers this.

Jeff

[psandman]

"Thats incorrect, she is "disclosing trade secrets"


Actually thats not a trade secret. I agree that Linda pushes the line by disclosing player names. I ceratinly don't do that and whe blog I am careful to avoid anything along those lines.

However this is not a trade secret. In fact it is not a secret. You see the public policy of the state of Nevada is that gaming is to be done out in the open view of the public. Accordingly anything going on on the casino floor is open and not secret.

[LasVegasMichael]

[ QUOTE ]
...she is "disclosing trade secrets"...

[/ QUOTE ]

From wikipedia:

A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information used by a business to obtain an advantage over competitors or customers. In some jurisdictions, such secrets are referred to as "confidential information".

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_secret

Unless poker tokes are deemed "confidential information" in the Bellagio Employee Handbook (referring specifically to poker tokes, preferably), I will admit defeat (upon reading said information with my own eyes, of course). Until then, publicly discussing tokes, or lack thereof, from a particular player by no means qualifies as "disclosing trade secrets".

The lawsuits you referred to were almost exclusivley concerning actual trade secrets akin to programming, product design, or manufacturing process.

I will also stand corrected if a single public lawauit was filed, and won, by a CASINO who sued an employee for publicly discussing tipping, off the clock, as that would be a suit that would actually pertain to this topic at hand.

Also, I want to reiterate that I am not defending her lack of professionalism in choosing to publish the information, nor am I critiquing the players in question decision not to tip, as that is their option. I am only defending her right to do so (without fear of termination), much like it is the players right to not to tip.

[*TT*]

simple solution - I contacted Casino Control enforcement division, they are investigating if there is any historical case of employee termination for disclosing information about a casino customer's habits. The enforcement officer I spoke to wasn't positive hence she will get back to me, but she thinks this is a case by case situation with each casino depending on their employee contracts. She doesn't know which employee or casino we are discussing to protect Linda's confidentiality, I'm not trying to get her fired, but this is an interesting topic of discussion that we can clarify rather quickly instead of us all acting as armchair quarterbacks.

I'll report back when I learn more.

[DayTripping]

Linda is obviously a top notch dealer, so even if she gets released I don't think she'll have trouble finding a job elsewhere. At least if she's working somewhere else she'll no longer be dealing big games like this and won't get stiffed by nits like Townsend anymore.