Binion’s hit with labor complaint

Alana Roberts

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

The Las Vegas office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against Binion's Horseshoe hotel-casino on behalf of a former employee who was terminated -- allegedly because he had distributed information about a discount health plan to other employees.

The NLRB filed a complaint against Binion's Oct. 30 in response to a charge filed in September by Joseph Moss, a former dealer at the downtown Las Vegas property. Moss was terminated from Binion's on June 28. A hearing for the complaint is set to begin Jan. 29.

As a dealer, Moss was not a member of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Angela Runz, human resources director and in-house legal counsel at Binion's, said.

She declined to comment on why he was fired but said the company disagrees with his claim and will fight Moss' charge.

"We certainly disagree with what the complaint says. We have our side and they have their side. We don't agree with it and we are going to go to litigation with it," she said.

Since or about June 2002 Moss had begun bringing information about a discount health plan to work and shared the information with other employees, the complaint said. Moss had also become a sales representative for the plan and enrolled other employees into the plan. The casino had eliminated the health insurance coverage of Moss and other employees, said the complaint.

The casino has a rule against employees having another job if it adversely affects job performance or if it is damaging to the company's interest.

Moss' activities are considered "collective bargaining and other mutual aid and protection," which is protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), said the complaint. The NLRA protects the rights of employees of private companies to organize under union representation.

"The respondent (Binion's) has been interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act in violation of Section 8 (a) (1) of the Act," said the complaint in reference to the NLRA.