LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas casino operator will pay $720,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit, which was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Last April, the EEOC accused the Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino of interfering with employees' rights and retaliating against those who exercised their rights.
Since at least 2018, the agency's lawsuit stated the casino engaged in numerous instances of discrimination against employees, including "failing to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities and terminating an employee with colon cancer because he wore an ostomy bag."
This failure to accommodate left some employees with no choice but to quit, the EEOC alleged.
According to the EEOC, they attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process before they ended up filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
In addition to monetary relief, EEOC officials said the casino has agreed to put measures in place to address and prevent disability discrimination in the workplace. That includes designing an external equal opportunity monitor to ensure compliance, instituting effective mechanisms for handling reasonable accommodation requests, as well as complaints of disability discrimination, and providing training for managers and employees.
