High court dismisses appeal by Venetian ex-worker

Cy Ryan and Gary Thompson

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of John Prendeville, who sought to force the Clark County Building Department to re-inspect the 3,000-room Venetian hotel-casino on grounds it didn't meet fire-safety standards.

The court Wednesday upheld the decision of District Judge Stephen Huffaker, who had called Prendeville "a disgruntled former employee who is using this proceeding to vex the respondents" -- the building department, the Venetian and the contractors.

Huffaker said Prendeville had no standing to bring the suit and that his petition for a writ of mandamus cannot be granted to compel the building department to re-inspect the Venetian.

The Supreme Court said Huffaker did not abuse his discretion in dismissing the suit.

Prendeville is a former employee of Lehrer McGovern Bovis Inc., which Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson had hired to oversee construction of the hotel-casino. Bovis fired Prendeville, who has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company.

In his state District Court suit suit against the county building department, Prendeville alleged the bathroom and toilet plumbing did not contain fire safety padding, that some rooms lacked one-hour fire-rated walls and that electrical steel boxes were installed on opposite walls in the rooms back-to-back in violation of the Uniform Building Code.

Ron Lynn, assistant director of the building department, replied to Prendeville's complaints in February, saying "The Venetian is being constructed within conformances to Clark County Code, accepted interpretations and constructed tolerances."

Lynn said many of the complaints are "aesthetic in nature and may be contract violations but are not necessarily negative impacts to the structure or violation of the building code."

However, Lynn later acknowledged that the allegations contained in Prendeville's lawsuit prompted the county building department to withdraw its preliminary approval of the fire walls and bathroom fixtures. The county ordered the fire pads be installed in bathroom and electrical fixtures, a process that delayed the scheduled April opening of the Venetian by several weeks.

Prendeville said today he was "disappointed but not surprised at the court's decision."

"The Supreme Court judges seem more concerned about preserving the reputation of Judge Huffaker than about public safety," he said. "They had adequate powers to grant standing and refused to do so."