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Wynn Resorts has agreed to pay $5.6 million to settle two collective action lawsuits over the company’s tip-sharing policy for table games dealers and supervisors.
The settlement will affect about 1,000 current and former dealers, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Lead plaintiffs Joseph Cesarz and Quy Ngoc Tang filed an opt-in collective action lawsuit — the Cesarz case — against Wynn Resorts in 2013, accusing the company of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by including boxmen and casino service team leads in the tip pool.
The policy, the Cesarz lawsuit claimed, meant Wynn Resorts had “effectively failed to pay any wages whatsoever to the plaintiffs, in that defendants recoup from the plaintiffs, through the taking of a portion of the plaintiffs’ tips, an amount far in excess of the amount it nominally pays to the plaintiffs from the defendants’ own funds, such actions by the defendants violating the purpose and intent of the FLSA … .”
That case was dismissed twice, according to the proposed settlement notice, and an appeal is stayed pending this settlement.
In May 2018, Tang and Cesarz filed a second opt-in collective action — the Tang case — which also has been put on hold pending this settlement.
Wynn Resorts operates luxury casino resorts in Las Vegas, Boston, and Macau.
Dealers who accept the settlement offer must sign and return a form in order to receive a cash payment.
Seventy percent of the net settlement amount will be allocated for claims in the Tang case; the remaining 30 percent will be allocated for the Cesarz case.
Each plaintiff’s award will be based on a pro rata assessment of the tips they received during the relevant time period compared to the amount received by all plaintiffs.
The relevant time period for the Tang case is March 23, 2018, to Nov. 11, 2018.
In the Cesarz action, the period is Jan. 31, 2017, through March 22, 2018, for those who did not previously consent to join the action. For those who did consent, the relevant period is three years before the date the written consent was filed, but not earlier than May 1, 2011, and ending March 22, 2018.
After attorneys’ fees and other expenses are paid, the Cesarz case plaintiffs will share $1.68 million, while the Tang plaintiffs will split $3.92 million, according to Law360.
Some plaintiffs and members of the collective action who worked during the time period of both groups of claims will receive two separate awards.
“We are pleased that all of the parties worked cooperatively to reach a resolution and bring this matter to an amiable conclusion,” Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver wrote in an email to the Review-Journal.
Dealers affected by the settlement will be able to accept or decline the offer.
The judge’s order points out the Wynn Resorts FLSA collective action differs from a class action settlement, as no one who fails to take action in response to the settlement will have their legal rights limited — those who decline to accept the settlement will be free to pursue their own cases against Wynn Resorts.
Are you an employee of Wynn Resorts or another casino company? Do you pool tips? Let us know in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Joshua D. Buck and Mark R. Thierman of Thierman Buck Law Firm LLP, Leon Marc Greenberg and Dana Sniegocki of Leon Greenberg PC, James P. Kemp of Kemp & Kemp, and Robin Potter of Potter Bolanos LLC.
The Wynn Resorts Tip Sharing Collective Actions are Quy Ngoc Tang, et al v. Wynn Las Vegas LLC, Case No. 2:18-cv-00891, and Joseph Cesarz, et al. v. Wynn Las Vegas LLC et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-00109, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
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2 thoughts onWynn Resorts Agrees to $5.6M Settlement Over Dealer Tip Sharing
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