Downtown casinos want complaint dismissed

Tuesday, July 20, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Herbert Pastor, owner of two downtown Las Vegas casinos, says he took quick action, including the firing of 67 employees, to resolve a state complaint that his change girls hustled tips from slot machine customers.

Pastor on Monday asked that the 15-count complaint, filed by the Gaming Control Board seeking a $1.5 million fine, be dismissed. Or in the alternative, Pastor asked the state Gaming Commission to find a "reasonable resolution" to the case.

The complaint, filed in May, says Pastor knew about the tip hustling and false representations by his employees at the Coin Castle Casino and Sassy Sally's and did not take any action to eliminate the "dishonest and offensive practices ..."

The board said employees told customers they needed to tip the change girls if they hit a jackpot. The workers would tell patrons they knew which machines were the "hottest" and they expected a gratuity. For instance, one customer told board agents an employee demanded $3 from a $25 jackpot and later demanded $8 when the player won a $60 jackpot.

There were complaints dating back to 1991 about the employees hitting on customers for tips. Pastor, at that time, assured the board he had taken action to stop the practice and said that it had been almost eliminated.

Pastor, in his answer filed Monday by his lawyer, James Jimmerson, said he didn't know the behavior of his employees had resumed. He said he was in North Carolina from about September 1998 through March 6, 1999, "in an effort to build a personal relationship."

About two weeks after he returned, board agents visited the two casinos and discovered four change girls hustling tips from jackpot winners and seven others suggesting the players "remember them" when the jackpots were hit. Pastor said he accepted "at face value the accuracy of the allegation," and agreed to accept responsibility.

He said he immediately terminated about a dozen employees and as of mid-June, had fired 67 workers with the likelihood a few more will be let go. That means a nearly 98 percent turnover in personnel. And Pastor says he "acted appropriately and firmly" but adds it was difficult to dismiss some workers who had been employed as long as 15 to 20 years.

To further cure the problem, Pastor holds weekly meetings with all workers to brief them on the rules. He has hired an independent security agency to send in undercover players to seek out the change girls who violate the regulations. He has increased the hourly wage of change girls "substantially" so it will "hopefully reduce the temptation or need to respond improperly to customers ..." He did not disclose what the pay is.

In his answer, Pastor said he never personally profited from the tip hustling since the statistics show customers of downtown casinos have limited money to spend.

He says he intends to refurbish both the outside and inside of the two clubs by late fall and old slot machines will be replaced with the latest state-of-the-art video and reel slots.

In filing an "affirmative defense," Pastor said he never knew about the tip solicitation and did not condone it.

In 1991 the board issued a show cause order against Pastor, charging there have been 22 customer complaints over a seven-year period at his casinos. He said he took care of the problem and the number of complaints decreased.

When licensing matters came before the board in 1996 and 1998, Pastor said board members told him that the complaints were diminishing. But the board's complaint doesn't square with Pastor's statement.

The board said when James Gish appeared to be licensed as a key employee at the two clubs, there were 43 documented patron complaints about tip solicitation. And two years later there were 11 additional complaints about hustling tips, guaranteeing jackpots and demanding a percentage of the payouts.

The complaint said the new cases took place in 1998 and 1999 and included state agents who posed as players and were hustled by the employees. It said Pastor "failed to exercise discretion and sound judgment to prevent incidents which might reflect on the repute of the state of Nevada ..." and this constituted an "unsuitable method of operation."