Hotel-casino, union sued

Monday, Aug. 21, 2000 | 11:58 a.m.

A former Luxor employee sued the hotel-casino, two officers and the Operating Engineers union Local 501, alleging he was wrongfully fired after he accused two Luxor engineers of stealing money by altering their time cards.

In a Clark County District Court lawsuit, Watson Newman, a former maintenance engineer, alleged he was terminated on Sept. 4, 1998, in retaliation for a complaint he filed on Jan. 20, 1998, accusing Bobby Stocker, an assistant chief engineer and Larry Wiker, another engineer, of altering their time cards by "clocking themselves out one-half hour early and ... adjusting the clock to steal two hours overtime."

Newman said he was first suspended on Sept. 3, 1998, by James Brown, Luxor's head of engineering, and Stocker for insubordination after he refused to change a tire for another employee. Newman, who alleged changing a tire is not part of his job description, said he filed a grievance report with Local 501 and was then told on Sept. 4, 1998, the suspension was changed to a termination.

Newman, who claimed the union is "in bed with (Luxor's) management," also alleged it didn't fight for his job at a grievance hearing and allegedly stopped his lawyers from aggressively pursuing his claims against the Luxor by excusing witnesses subpoenaed on his behalf.

Luxor and Local 501 officials declined comment.