Station Casinos gets OK to buy Santa Fe

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 9:08 a.m.

Station Casinos was given the go-ahead to buy the Santa Fe hotel-casino, but Nevada gambling regulators voted against a regulation that would have protected workers from job losses caused by the deal.

The Nevada Gaming Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to approve the licensing of Station Casinos to buy the Santa Fe, a neighborhood casino in North Las Vegas, for $205 million.

Station Casinos has said all Santa Fe workers will have to reapply for their jobs and have no priority over other applicants.

The Culinary Union filed an emergency petition with the commission last week, urging the panel to adopt a regulation that would protect employees from job losses caused by the sale of casinos.

"This is not just a union issue," Richard McCracken, an attorney for the local Culinary and Bartenders unions, said Thursday. "Many employees being fired are not represented by a union.

"This is the first time this has happened. These individuals are losing their jobs."

But Jack Godfrey, an attorney representing Station Casinos, called the unions' proposal a "thinly veiled attempt to impose a condition on only one company - Station Casinos."

"This commission shouldn't get involved with labor practices of gaming licensees. This is an issue properly left with the industry, between management, the unions and the employees," he said.

The commission agreed and voted 5-0 to deny the petition.

Commissioners did note that they were aware of Station Casinos' various problems in Missouri and in Nevada.

Last month, the Missouri Gaming Commission moved to strip Station Casinos of its Missouri gambling license.

Missouri regulators acted after Station executives refused to testify at an inquiry into Michael Lazaroff, a former Station lawyer who pleaded guilty earlier this year to multiple felonies.

In pleading guilty, Lazaroff admitted he pocketed law firm funds that included a questionable $500,000 bonus payment from Station. Authorities have been trying to determine whether money paid to Lazaroff was used to influence public officials.

Station representatives and Missouri regulators are in talks about the testimony of company executives.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has said it will definitely follow up on the Missouri activity but is waiting until that state's disciplinary actions are complete.

In Nevada, Station Casinos agreed last week to pay a $475,000 fine to settle a six-count Gaming Control Board complaint over an anonymous campaign flier that sought to discredit Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone. He was defeated in the Sept. 5 primary.

The flier was created by Station executive Mark Brown and political consultant Tom Skancke and mailed to 39,000 residents in Malone's northwest Las Vegas district. The flier was in response to Malone's support of a neighborhood casino project Station Casinos opposed.

A civil suit was filed Wednesday by Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa seeking $5,000 in fines against Station Casinos, Brown and Skancke for violating Nevada law in the financing and distribution of anonymous campaign material.