Sexual-Looking Room Was Sex Room

Harrah's settles suit claiming female kitchen workers were subjected to 'makeshift sex room'
Ryan Nakashima, AP
August 20, 2007

LAS VEGAS – Caesars Palace, the casino owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by seven female kitchen helpers and a male supervisor, federal officials said Monday.

The employees complained that the women, ranging in age from 19 to their 40s, were forced to have sex with other supervisors in a “makeshift sex room” under the threat of being fired, said Anna Park, an attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The room in the kitchen area had a sofa or bed, often wine, and was decorated “to make it look sexual,” said Federico Sayre, the lawyer for the four women who suffered the worst abuse.

Park said the room was “a dirty little secret that was there for a long time.”

“When they took you back there, they knew that's what that was for,” she said. “That shouldn't exist in any workplace.”

Beyond the sex acts, which began in 2000, the women were subjected to daily sexual comments or requests, Park and Sayre said. Many could speak only Spanish and were vulnerable to authority figures, they said.

The women, who mostly cleaned silverware, complained as early as 2001 to a human resources manager, but the manager did not investigate the allegations thoroughly because she had a relationship with one of the men involved, Sayre said.

Three male supervisors involved in the abuse have since been fired, but the human resources manager is still employed by the company, Sayre said.

Harrah's did not admit wrongdoing but determined “it is in the best interest of all parties to put this matter to rest and move on,” spokesman Alberto Lopez said. The incidents happened before Harrah's acquired Caesars Entertainment Inc. in 2005.

Harrah's agreed to post English and Spanish copies of the settlement, which mandates that it institute sexual harassment training, develop a system and appoint a person to address complaints and retain a third-party consultant to ensure it complies.

It was unclear whether the former supervisors might face criminal charges. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said he was unfamiliar with the allegations and the statute of limitations on at least some of the incidents had expired.