Frontier sues attorney, says bad advice given on unions

Rachael Levy

Friday, Jan. 30, 1998 | 10:08 a.m.

The Frontier hotel-casino is blaming its former attorney for multimillion-dollar losses with unions and the National Labor Relations Board.

The Frontier sued attorney Joel Keiler and his law firm Wednesday for allegedly giving bad advice that hurt the gambling hall economically.

In December, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sanctioned the Frontier for filing a frivolous appeal of an order to repay several million dollars in pensions, health benefits and wages.

The casino is seeking more than $50,000 in damages against Keiler and the Ammerman & Keiler law office in a federal lawsuit prepared by Las Vegas attorney Steven Cohen.

The Frontier terminated its business relationship with Keiler in August 1994. The attorney was unavailable for comment.

Keiler allegedly represented to casino officials that he specialized in labor law and represented the Frontier in collective bargaining negotiations.

But in September 1991, Culinary Union Local 226, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501 and Local 995 of the Professional, Clerical and Miscellaneous Employees Union began a strike that continues today.

Based on the lawyer's advice, the Frontier said, it stopped contributing to the Southern Nevada Culinary Workers and Bartenders Pension Trust Fund and issued 63 new rules that regulated employee conduct.

Union leaders complained to the NLRB. In 1991, Administrative Law Judge James Kennedy found the Frontier guilty of the violations.

But the Frontier protested the ruling until this past December, when the appellate court forced the casino to repay the pension fund and hire back employees fired under the new rules of conduct.

The Frontier also blames Keiler for advising casino officials to implement portions of a proposed contract that Locals 501 and 995 rejected. The locals accused the Frontier of not bargaining in good faith.

The allegations were upheld by Judge Kennedy. In August 1995, the NLRB ordered the Frontier to pay the locals for expenses incurred during the negotiating and litigation.