Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Lawyer alleges evidence destroyed in sexual harassment case

The lawyer for a woman alleging sexual harassment against the N9NE Group and its top executive in Las Vegas is now claiming evidence has been destroyed in her case.

Leslie Culler on Dec. 13 sued Michael Morton and his N9NE Group, operator of popular restaurants and nightclubs at the Palms hotel-casino, as well as two more N9NE Group executives.

Culler claims she was fired as art director of the group in July after refusing sexual advances directed toward her by Morton and other male executives and objecting to “constant sexual harassment” in the workplace.

Attorneys for Morton and the N9NE Group have not yet filed their response to the allegation.

Last week, Culler’s attorney, Andre Lagomarsino of Las Vegas, filed court papers saying two computers with files relevant to the case had been destroyed and asking the court for an order preventing the defendants from destroying additional evidence.

In his motion, Lagomarsino cited evidence from the pending litigation pitting Morton against Palms owner George Maloof Jr. and certain N9NE Group investors.

Maloof and the investors charge Morton has mismanaged N-M Ventures, the Palms-N9NE Group joint venture that owns several of the Palms clubs and restaurants.

Among the charges of mismanagement against Morton is that he’s responsible for hefty legal fees and potential damages N-M Ventures may have to pay in the Culler case — as well as a 2007 workplace discrimination lawsuit filed by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that was settled for $460,000 in favor of black and Hispanic security guards.

Maloof and the investors also have accused Morton of diverting N-M Ventures assets for his personal gain and Morton’s newly-opened La Cave wine bar restaurant at Wynn Las Vegas. As part of that charge, Maloof and the investors say N-M Ventures employees, including Culler, worked on the Wynn restaurant project at the expense of Maloof and the investors.

Morton has denied all the allegations and says Maloof and the investors are not only trying to push him out of their lucrative partnership at the Palms but are trying to hijack ownership of the Wynn restaurant.

The latest development in the cases came last week when Lagomarsino, citing evidence in the Maloof-Morton litigation, said Morton and/or his agents had with a hammer destroyed computers used by Morton and former N9NE Group executive Michael Fuller, who had supervised Culler.

“A few years ago, Morton destroyed another computer with a hammer,” Lagomarsino wrote in his filing. “These personal computers were not backed up on the server. As such, it is clear that Morton and/or his agents have destroyed evidence including emails, communications and other evidence that will be relevant in this case.”

“Upon information and belief, there was a large amount of sexually inappropriate material on the subject computers,” the filing said.

“Defendant had a duty to preserve evidence. This destruction of evidence is an obstruction of justice and willful spoilation of evidence,” Lagomarsino wrote in the filing, which asks the court for a protective order and a temporary restraining order to prevent the destruction of evidence.

“Two computers have already been destroyed and Morton is no rookie to this type of conduct. Thus, there is a significant threat additional relevant evidence will also be destroyed, which will substantially harm plaintiff’s case,” the filing said, adding the defendants knew they had a duty to preserve evidence in August when Culler filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC.

In backing up his demand for an order requiring evidence to be preserved, Lagomarsino said Culler has a high probability of success in her lawsuit as, according to him, Fuller admitted under oath in a deposition that Culler was subject to a hostile work environment.

The federal judge assigned to Culler’s case has not yet ruled on the motion for a protective order and a temporary restraining order.

Separately, a new bit of information surfaced in the Morton-Maloof litigation about the 2007 EEOC lawsuit against N-M Ventures.

When the Palms was asked in an interrogatory how it learned the case had been settled by N-M Ventures for $460,000, court records show attorneys for the Palms responded that Morton had disclosed to N9NE Group investors and Maloof that Morton and N-M Ventures President Andy Belmonti had mishandled the case, that insurance coverage had been denied and that a jury would likely “kill them” (Morton and Belmonti) if the matter went to trial.

The Greenspun family, owner of the Las Vegas Sun, is a minority investor in the Palms.

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