Maryland Live! is suing MGM Resorts International in federal court, claiming its soon-to-be competitor hired away three of its hosts the casino accuses of pilfering its prized data base of VIP gamblers.
In court papers filed in Baltimore, Maryland Live!, currently the state’s leading operator, says MGM “aided and abetted” the thefts by hiring the three—two of whom are identified in the suit as “Asian Executive Hosts”—“with knowledge that they have misappropriated trade secrets and are subject to no hire/non-compete agreements”.
MGM, which is set to open its $1.3 billion National Harbor casino next month as the state’s sixth and final gaming resort, called the allegations “baseless” and dismissed the suit as “nothing more than a thinly disguised attempt to stifle the competition … and to try to tarnish MGM’s reputation in the marketplace”.
Maryland Live!, however, wants the court to order an “independent forensics analysis” of the ex-staffers’ phones and computers, claiming they unlawfully downloaded “hundreds of files” relating to some 3,000 high rollers, including names and contact information.
In June, Maryland Live! sent MGM a letter, warning the company that it had “credible information from multiple sources” that the three were “actively soliciting and calling upon” its VIPs on MGM’s behalf despite having signed non-compete agreements that prohibit them for a year from working for any casino within 75 miles.
MGM counters that the three will be employed by a subsidiary physically located in Virginia outside the non-compete zone, a claim Maryland Live! derides as “phony offices” designed “to evade” the non-competes.
In 2014, Maryland Live! sued a VIP host who went to work for Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, claimed the former employee stole customer information.
