Posted on June 14, 2024 at 08:57
Last updated: 14 June 2024, 08:57.
Wynn Las Vegas LLC, operator of the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, was named as a defendant in a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by a cocktail server in December.
A cocktail server delivers drinks at the Wynn Las Vegas casino, which is facing a lawsuit from a former waitress who claims she was discriminated against by her employer because of a medical disability. (Image: Casino.org)
Jennifer Bandiello filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, alleging that Wynn failed to accommodate her disability and retaliated against her by taking sick leave.
The lawyers say Bandiello worked for Wynn since 2008 despite suffering from lupus, a chronic disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. The disease is considered common in the United States, affecting more than 200,000 people each year.
People with lupus regularly suffer from joint and muscle pain, swelling, fatigue, mouth sores, and skin rashes. The disease is most commonly diagnosed in women between the ages of 15 and 44, and is most common in blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. Women are 10 times more likely to have lupus than men.
Bandiello said he has also been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, which causes dry eyes and dry mouth, and rheumatoid arthritis, which causes painful swelling in the joints, back and muscles.
Background of the complaint
Bandiello says she worked part-time at Wynn Casino before seeking full-time employment in November 2018. Even though she “had the longest tenure to win bids for shifts,” Wynn did not select her and allegedly told Bandiello that they were “doing her a favor” by not promoting her to full-time due to her health condition.
Bandiello and his lawyers filed a discrimination lawsuit with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission (NERC).
She said her supervisors stopped allowing her to take breaks in late 2020. She worked “sometimes 10 hours straight” without a break, according to her lawsuit.
“Wynn Las Vegas began forcing Ms. Bandiello to perform additional demanding tasks beyond her role as a cocktail server, such as serving food,” the lawsuit states. “Soon after Wynn Las Vegas took these measures, Ms. Bandiello’s stress levels increased dramatically, and her physical impairment (which was exacerbated by the stress) began to significantly limit one or more of Ms. Bandiello’s major life activities, including her ability to concentrate, think, communicate, interact with others at work, stand or walk for extended periods of time, or lift heavy objects.”
Wynn placed Bandiello on sick leave in June 2021 and reached a settlement agreement through NERC in December of that year. The settlement allows her to remain on sick leave until her doctor clears her to return to work, with or without accommodations.
The judge makes a recommendation.
Bandiello alleges that the Wynn Las Vegas ADA department emailed her on March 9, 2022, informing her that her employment would be terminated at the end of this month unless she received medical clearance to return to work. Bandiello’s doctor asked for her leave to be extended until September 14, 2022, which was approved.
Her sick leave was extended further into 2023, but on March 1, 2023, Wynn’s lawyers emailed her stating that there would be “no further extension of her leave.” Bandiello claims that she has since attempted to reach an accommodation agreement that would allow her to return to a five-day work week schedule, but that Wynn has not responded to her requests.
“Wynn Las Vegas caused overwhelming stress to Mr. Bandiello by constantly pressuring him to submit new medical documentation, provide detailed disclosures about his health condition, and demand that the company accurately determine when he would no longer need accommodations (treating the accommodations as a burden),” the lawsuit alleges.
Wynn has denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “we comply with employee accommodation requests in accordance with the law, and did so with Mr. Bandiello.”
According to the latest case records, U.S. District Judge Daniel Albrechts agreed in March to conduct an Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) of the claims, which provides a balanced and impartial assessment of the dispute and may aid in a settlement between the parties.
Albrechts completed his evaluation last month, but the results of that evaluation have not yet been published in the public record of the case.