A dozen former employees at the Golden Mardi Gras Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado filed a discrimination lawsuit against Las Vegas-based Affinity Gaming in U.S. District Court in Denver. The plaintiffs include blackjack dealers, drink servers and bankers, said attorney Lisa Sahli. They allege Affinity, owners of Golden Mardi Gras, discriminated against them by laying off 60 mostly older and female employees and replacing them with younger, less qualified individuals.
After Affinity purchased the Golden Mardi Gras and two other Black Hawk casinos in November 2012, it required all employees to reapply for their jobs. The lawsuit said in January 2013, the company laid off 60 employees although they all had adequate or superior job ratings. In February 2013 it hired 59 younger employees.
The former Mardi Gras employees range from 43 to 74 years old, and nine of the 12 are women. They’re seeking unspecified compensation for lost wages, pension benefits and punitive damages. Court papers state when the former employees were fired, they asked the manager for explanations and were told, “I don’t know why,” and “You are not what Affinity is looking for.”
The lawsuit claims Golden Mardi Gras targeted older women, such as 74-year-old Georgean LaBute, and blackjack dealers 60-year old Kurt Arntsen and 62-year old John Roberts, who was known to keep gamblers playing at his table for long periods. The lawsuit also accuses Golden Mardi Gras of violating the Family Medical Leave Act by firing Annette Trujillo two weeks after she applied for a leave to care for her father, who was suffering from bone cancer.
