The Culinary Union has dropped its lawsuit against MGM Resorts International after the two sides agreed to enter arbitration to resolve the union’s Covid-related safety concerns.
The union’s Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 was suing two of MGM’s Las Vegas Strip operations Sadelle’s Cafe at Bellagio and The Signature at MGM Grand𑁋accusing the company of not offering safe working conditions during the pandemic.
MGM petitioned for a dismissal of the suit on July 7, contending that despite repeated attempts to communicate with union leadership during and after the state-imposed shutdown the union never suggested specific health and safety standards or claimed the company’s own standards were insufficient.
The union had until July 21 to respond but then announced the day before that it was filing for dismissal on its own.
“This arbitration is a first step, and the Culinary Union will continue to negotiate aggressively and take any other steps necessary to ensure workers and their families are protected from the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace,” Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline said.
In a statement, MGM blasted the union for what it termed a “frivolous lawsuit.”
“They have now made a motion to dismiss their lawsuit after we challenged them in court,” the company said. “We hope that the Culinary Union will work collaboratively with us in the future when it comes to health and safety issues.”
The union is still pursuing a similar lawsuit against the Strip restaurant Guy Fieri Las Vegas, operated by Caesars Entertainment.
It is also pushing a bill for the next special session of the Nevada Legislature whose provisions include mandatory free testing for all casino workers.
The “Adolfo Fernandez Bill,” as it’s called, is named after a Caesars Palace employee who died from Covid-19 in June.
