After three employees from Bally’s Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort sued the company last month for miscalculating hourly pay rates and undercutting proper overtime benefits among other allegations, dozens more have come forward looking to join the lawsuit.
The new total of employees featured in the class-action suit, primarily servers, dealers and other tip-based employees, is over 65. Johan Tapia, Rebecca Barton and Timothy Bartholomew were the Twin River employees who originally filed the lawsuit in March in U.S. District Court. The suit details numerous labor violations related to hourly rates, overtime benefits and more.
Chip Muller, an attorney who is part of the employees’ counsel, said that they felt the amount of money involved in the lawsuit was “substantial.”
The company has yet to respond with legal action, and spokeswoman Patti Doyle said that the company would not comment publicly on matters regarding personnel or ongoing litigation.
The suit is alleging that for overtime hours, employees were paid at 1.5 times an hourly rate that is less than the state’s minimum wage, which increased from $10.10 to $12.25 on Jan. 1. Federal policy states that employers must pay overtime benefits at rates that are higher than or equal to state minimums.
According to the suit, the claimants are also alleging that the company never notified them before applying a tip credit of $5.12 to their hourly wage, which goes against state and federal laws. By adding this credit to employees’ base rate of $2.13 per hour, the Twin River was able to reach the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Failure to comply with legal requirements surrounding shift premiums was also cited, as employees allege that the company did not factor in increased differential for later hours when determining both hourly and overtime pay rates.
The claimants are requesting that the court determine what, if any damages they may be entitled to for the alleged labor violations.
In related news, some Twin River employees have testified in favor of a smoking ban on casino floors.
The proposed bill looks to make a makeshift policy permanent after smoking was temporarily banned during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers praised the policy as having positive impacts on their health and wellbeing.
Matthew Dunham, a Bally’s table game dealer, was especially vocal in his defense of the proposed ban. Dunham argued that smoking impacts all employees as they try to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, including dealing at a high level.
He also lamented the fact that smoking is no longer allowed in many environments but casinos are not one of them.
The idea of banning smoking indoors has become increasingly popular in casinos around the U.S., as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and now Rhode Island have entertained the notion of extinguishing cigarettes for good on casino floors.
