Discrimination complaint against LV casino dismissed

Grace Leong

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Roadrunner Casino Sahara and its parent Sahara Enterprises Inc. of racial discrimination when it stopped two black people from playing slot machines during a private party at the club.

Donna Long-Taylor, a Las Vegas resident, and her father, Lawrence Long Sr., sued their former attorney, Althea Gilkey; Sahara Enterprises and its president, Michael Corrigan; the Roadrunner casino and its manager, Christopher Skochenko, in U.S. District Court in January.

The plaintiffs, who said they were playing video poker at the Roadrunner on March 13, 1998, alleged they suffered emotional distress when they were asked by Skochenko to leave the club allegedly because they are black.

The Long-Taylors had filed their first civil rights violation lawsuit against the Roadrunner in Clark County District Court on April 17, 1998, but that suit was dismissed on Aug. 24, 1999, by state court Judge Stephen Huffaker, who found there was "no evidence of extreme or outrageous conduct" by the casino.

U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson also dismissed the Long-Taylors' claims in the January lawsuit, saying they were aware that the Roadrunner had signs telling visitors the club wasn't opening to the public until March 14, 1998, and that a private party was in progress.

"Because the Roadrunner was not open to the public and was hosting a private party, nobody had any right to enter the Roadrunner and pay for the services inside ... The plaintiffs are precluded from re-litigating this issue," Dawson wrote in Monday's order.

But Donna Long-Taylor said she plans to "appeal his decision and exhaust every legal remedy possible."

She said she had entered the club on March 13, 1998, because the parking lot was fully occupied that day and she assumed the club had opened a day early.

"There were no signs saying there was a private party," Long-Taylor said. "I sent Carl Moser, my caucasian roommate, into the Roadrunner later that evening and no one asked him to leave or told him there was a private party."

The order noted the state Gaming Control Board, which filed a complaint in August 1998 against the Roadrunner with the Nevada Gaming Commission, found the Roadrunner was "wrong in operating gambling machines that were not accessible to the general public, but it specifically found that there was no racial discrimination behind the Roadrunner's actions."

Dawson also dismissed the Long-Taylors' claims that Gilkey committed malpractice when she allegedly improperly released personal information about Long-Taylor to the Roadrunner.

Dawson also dismissed the plaintiffs' claims that Gilkey conspired with the Roadrunner defendants to defeat the Long-Taylors' lawsuit.

"Allegations that a lawyer was lax in her duties and that the adverse party benefitted by the lawyer's lapse do not automatically lead to the conclusion that there was a conspiracy," Dawson wrote.

"The plaintiffs effectively claim, 'We lost, therefore, a conspiracy must have existed.' Under the plaintiffs' logic, the prevailing party and the opposing counsel would be conspiring in every civil action that does not terminate in a settlement," he said.

Gilkey could not be reached for comment. In a letter that is part of the court file, Gilkey said she withdrew from representing Long-Taylor because of disputes with Long-Taylor. Gilkey also said she informed Long-Taylor and Mr. Long that their case was weak.