Editor settles defamation suit

Monday, July 23, 2001 | 11:16 a.m.

Marlene Prendeville, U.S. West Coast editor of Casino World, a gaming publication printed in the United Kingdom, settled a defamation lawsuit she filed against TrizecHahn Development Corp.'s Desert Passage mall on the Las Vegas Strip and its former marketing director Paul Beirnes.

Court records say the case was settled at an arbitration conference on June 6, but details of the settlement weren't revealed.

But Prendeville, in a statement, said the defendants reached an out of court settlement on June 6 for an undisclosed sum. "In reaching this settlement, the defendants did not admit liability but offered to compromise and settle injuries, damages, losses, liabilities, claims and causes of action claimed by Prendeville," the statement said.

Prendeville sued the defendants in February, alleging they "defamed her character and damaged her professional reputation" when they allegedly published a defamatory memo on Oct. 23 to 21 restaurants at the Desert Passage mall and the attached Aladdin hotel-casino.

She disputed the allegations in the memo accusing her of being "conniving" and "a fraudulent journalist ... soliciting complimentary meals" and that she "berates staff and chefs."

"This is absolute nonsense and a pack of lies. I have never at any time berated chefs or other staff in a restaurant," she said.

Andrew Gordon, the defendants' attorney, could not be reached for comment on the settlement. But the defendants, in court papers filed March 14, sought to dismiss the lawsuit, saying Prendeville "failed to properly mitigate damages, and that her claims may be barred by ... comparative negligence, estoppel or fraud."