Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Gaming company slapped for not registering employees with the state

Nevada regulators have fined the owner of the Stratosphere and Arizona Charlie’s casinos in Las Vegas for failing to register gaming employees hired by the company.

And one official says the Gaming Control Board is readying complaints against other casino companies that have made similar errors.

State law requires gaming employers to register their employees with the Gaming Control Board. Registered employees must file a change of employment notice with the board if they move to another company.

American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC failed to register 29 employees working for its three Las Vegas casinos and its Aquarius casino in Laughlin, according to a complaint filed by the Nevada Gaming Commission and obtained by my colleague in Carson City, Cy Ryan.

The company has agreed to pay a fine of $33,000, which includes $1,000 for each employee violation and an additional $2,000 for failing to act upon two warning letters sent by regulators, alerting the company to the violations.

All told, three letters were sent to the company, the first in May 2006 and the other two in March 2007, and concerned violations uncovered over certain periods in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The settlement, signed by the Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday, acknowledges that the violations “were administrative in nature” and didn’t indicate an intent to circumvent the law. Regulators also said the company has since made a “significant investment” in additional staff, technology and training to prevent future violations.

Gaming Commission Chairman Pete Bernhard called the violations serious. “Other casinos have no problems. American Casino just didn’t get it,” he told Ryan.

Gaming Control Board Member Randy Sayre said there are more complaints coming against other companies.

“It’s a lack of attention to detail,” Sayre said.

The process of registering employees is typically handled internally rather than by outside attorneys who are gaming law experts paid to handle licensing procedures.

The registration requirement is separate from the state’s licensing requirement. The company has appropriately licensed all of its top executives and other key employees, which involve lengthy background checks.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy