Farha/Townsend stiff dealer?

[LasVegasMichael]

I'm sorry but I do find it interesting (read: hypocritical) that the same person that said this:

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...instead of us all acting as armchair quarterbacks.


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is the same person that said this, a few posts earlier:

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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.

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You stated the second quoted portion as a fact (i.e. "she IS disclosing", versus, "she MIGHT be disclosing". Perhaps your call to Casino Control should have been made prior to accusing her of "disclosing trade secrets," but that is beside the point.

More importantly, "disclosing information about a casino customer's habits" and "disclosing trade secrets" are NOT the same thing. Are you recinding your accusation that she "disclosed trade secrets" by publishing the fact that she got stiffed?

[*TT*]

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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.

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If it's in their contract then I will happily stand corrected.

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UPDATE: Casino Control has no jurisdiction over this matter, this would be an issue between the labor board and the employer if (once)the employee was terminated. She said that she was not aware of a prior instance where this topic was discussed, but she was also able to confirm that its the casino's right to terminate an at-will employee for any reason (I do not know if Bellagio dealers are considered at-will, I didn't want to disclose too much information) including disclosing customer habits.

So the short answer is the casino can <u>probably</u> terminate Linda for disclosing the habits of a customer if they felt it was necessary, of course contractual issues would have to be considered but it doesn't necessarily have to be stated as such in the contract. If anyone wishes to clarify the next step would be to contact the labor board, please follow my model by assuring all communications are done discreetly.

I'm surprised to see that this has turning into such an interesting topic!

[*TT*]

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You stated the second quoted portion as a fact (i.e. "she IS disclosing", versus, "she MIGHT be disclosing". Perhaps your call to Casino Control should have been made prior to accusing her of "disclosing trade secrets," but that is beside the point.

More importantly, "disclosing information about a casino customer's habits" and "disclosing trade secrets" are NOT the same thing. Are you recinding your accusation that she "disclosed trade secrets" by publishing the fact that she got stiffed?

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I'm pretty sure it could be argued in a court of law that disclosing customer habits without prior permission would be considered disclosing trade secrets. I'll call my lawyer and ask him for a legal opinion if your willing to pay his hourly fee [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[RedWave]

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She should be silenced because she is publicly insulting one of her employer's best clients.

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I think that some people are stating opinions without actually reading the blog entry. Here is the actual text in question:

She tried again, “Does the winner of the match take care of the dealer? That’s how I understood it worked.”

They both ignored her. As she left with Sam she turned to me and said, “I tried.”

I laughed and said, “I know. Thanks.”

How is the above an insult? It seems that it is a rather black and white retelling of something that transpired.

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So what? Yes, she's just retelling what transpired...and that is embarrassing/insulting for one of Bellagio's customers. Why should they allow that from their employees?

Let's say I work sales for Toyota and we're selling a fleet of cars to IBM. An IBM executive rolls in dead drunk to a business meeting. As a Toyota employee, can I write about this situation in my blog? Of course I COULD - and Toyota would fire me before the first comment hit the page. You don't speak ill of your clients in public, period.

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Why is it embarrassing though? As I said in my previous post, both of them do not consider it customary to tip a dealer for good service, as most people do. If their personal view is so embarrassing to them then they should reconsider it.

[uclaben]

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I'm pretty sure it could be argued in a court of law that disclosing customer habits without prior permission would be considered disclosing trade secrets. I'll call my lawyer and ask him for a legal opinion if your willing to pay his hourly fee [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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Anything can be argued in a court of law, but I see no reason whatsoever that the contents of this story would be considered "trade secrets." There's nothing secret about it. It happened in public, and it has nothing to do with the trade (gaming). It's a simple transaction (lack of, actually) between a player and the dealer/author of the blog. It's no more a trade secret than the color of the shirt he was wearing.

[spacemanspiff]

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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.

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If it's in their contract then I will happily stand corrected.

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UPDATE: Casino Control has no jurisdiction over this matter, this would be an issue between the labor board and the employer if (once)the employee was terminated. She said that she was not aware of a prior instance where this topic was discussed, but she was also able to confirm that its the casino's right to terminate an at-will employee for any reason (I do not know if Bellagio dealers are considered at-will, I didn't want to disclose too much information) including disclosing customer habits.

So the short answer is the casino can probably terminate Linda for disclosing the habits of a customer if they felt it was necessary, of course contractual issues would have to be considered but it doesn't necessarily have to be stated as such in the contract. If anyone wishes to clarify the next step would be to contact the labor board, please follow my model by assuring all communications are done discreetly.

I'm surprised to see that this has turning into such an interesting topic!

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Sounds like a draw to me. I've talked to plenty of people in h.r. who say that firing someone who's at-will is never quite as easy as it sounds but I live in MA which is pretty worker-protective. I have no idea how it would work in a state like NV and won't even try to speculate.

[uclaben]

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Why is it embarrassing though? As I said in my previous post, both of them do not consider it customary to tip a dealer for good service, as most people do. If their personal view is so embarrassing to them then they should reconsider it.

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Of course they should reconsider it. They're douchebags.

But it's not the role of a Bellagio employee to point that out - CLEARLY the purpose of this article - in a public blog. Going back to my example, the IBM executive shouldn't come to work drunk; there's no doubt about that. But Toyota has a business relationship with that individual in the same way Bellagio has a business relationship with their players. You don't show up your clients. It's not about right or wrong, it's just a terrible business practice.

[Homer]

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Maybe I'm not understanding this correctly, but this whole situation seems weird to me. Now, let me preface this with saying that I am not a dealer nor do I live in Vegas, so maybe I don't have the same understanding as some of you who are involved with these type of situations day in and day out.

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I have a friend that deals in Vegas and he never mentioned it but a mutual friend that deals here locally, told me while LHAO, "X, is out there dealing $1,000-2,000 limit holdem and they tipped him $5 for his down."

WhileI find it unimaginable to be playing that high and stiffing the dealers, I am confident it happens on a regular basis.

In the casino industry you don't talk bad your customers, especially the high rollers. If you can't say something nice, you are much better off, not speaking about high rollers.

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While it would be nice for them to spread the wealth, $5/down isn't entirely unreasonable. It comes out to about $30k/year (and if you meant they both threw him a red it would be $50k/yr). Tons of people in this country bust their asses day in and day out for less money than this. No way someone pitching cards across a table should make more than $50k/yr.

[roaaahhh]

this isnt an interesting topic, its just a revelation that some people lack simple things like class and a sense of fairness.

[DayTripping]

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While it would be nice for them to spread the wealth, $5/down isn't entirely unreasonable. It comes out to about $30k/year (and if you meant they both threw him a red it would be $50k/yr). Tons of people in this country bust their asses day in and day out for less money than this. No way someone pitching cards across a table should make more than $50k/yr.

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I love when people complain about somebody making a lot of money for doing a certain job. It's not like poker dealers are making their money from your tax dollars. It's none of your business how much they make, and if you consider it unfair that some of them make over 50k a year for just pitching cards, you should get a job as a dealer so you can get in on some of that easy money.