U.S. District Court Judge Sul Ozerden recently dismissed a lawsuit filed in September 2022 by Leane Scherer of New Orleans against MGM Resorts International, owners of Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi. Scherer claimed MGM’s slots redemption system cheated players by returning whole dollars only, and not coins.
Ozerden wrote, “The court finds that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over plaintiff’s claims because the gaming commission has exclusive jurisdiction over such disputes in Mississippi, and plaintiff has not exhausted the gaming commission’s administrative process.” Ozerden dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, so Scherer could bring a new suit on the same claim at a future date.
Suzanne Montero, an attorney for Scherer, said in a statement,” We have received the judge’s order and are considering our client’s options moving forward.”
In her lawsuit, Scherer said MGM’s system for cashing out slot players is a “vehicle for converting players’ funds into casino funds.” The suit said when slots players insert their voucher into the redemption kiosk, the kiosk rounds down to the nearest dollar and pays that amount in dollars. The player can choose to donate the leftover change to a charitable foundation or get another voucher for the coins. That voucher, known as a “TRU ticket,” must be redeemed at the cashier’s window. Scherer argued it was “logistically impossible and logically improbable” that players would wait in line to receive their money in coins.
In the suit, Scherer said she gambled at the Beau Rivage in June 2022 and received only $18 from a $18.19 voucher. She said she didn’t know the TRU ticket could be redeemed for coins and left the casino without receiving the 19 cents.
In court filings, MGM said it previously used a kiosk that dispensed dollars and coins, but changed that to dollars only during the Covid-19 pandemic. Scherer stated she filed her suit for herself and “hundreds of thousands of casino patrons who have been deprived, little by little, of millions of dollars since defendant’s adoption of its no-change policy.”
