Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa and the MGM National Harbor Casino have agreed to a $12.5 million settlement regarding a wage-related lawsuit filed by both current and former employees of the organization.
This settlement benefits two classes:
- The first or Borgata Class constitutes all tipped employees working as a dealer at Borgata and earning a direct hourly cash wage up to $7.24 between 1st March 2018 and 31st December 2019.
- The second or MGM National Harbor Class constitutes all tipped employees working as a dealer at MGM National Harbor and earning a direct hourly cash wage up to $11.49 between 15th January 2018 and 31st December 2019.
Settlement Website: CasinoClassActionSettlement.com
Objection Deadline: 07/15/2022
Exclusion Deadline: 07/15/2022
Claim Form: Class members are not required to submit a claim form for benefitting from this settlement.
Deadline For Submitting Claim Form: 07/15/2022
Final Hearing Date: 07/21/2022
Settlement Amount: $12.5 million
Potential Claim Amount: Variable
Proof Of Purchase: Not applicable
Around 2600 people employed at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa and the MGM National Harbor Casino have filed a lawsuit alleging the defendants of paying workers below the minimum wage by improperly claiming a tip credit without notice. According to Yogonet Gaming News, dealers at the Borgata casino could see $1000 on average for workers whereas the dealers at the MGM casino could see $4500 on average.
According to federal labor law, tipped employees can be paid less than minimum wage by their employer. Under special circumstances, the employers might draw a tip credit for being pooled and distributed among other tipped employees. The lawsuit pointed out that the plaintiffs and other similarly positioned tipped employees weren’t priorly informed of the defendant’s use of the tip credit of:
- The incremental amount by which the wages of tipped employees were increased by the tip credit claimed by the defendants. This amount cannot exceed the value of tips received by the employee.
- That the total tips received by a tipped employee were retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who regularly and customarily receive tips.
- That the tip credit will not apply to any employee who hasn’t been informed about the requirements of this section.
According to The Associated Press, Borgata was a highly prosperous casino in New Jersey in 2020. Borgata clocked the highest aggregate revenue with $94.3 million out of the state’s nine casinos. MGM National Harbor occupies the top of the revenue list of Maryland’s six casinos. According to the reports published by Casino.org, MGM National Harbor helped all the casinos in 2021 attain a gross gaming revenue of approximately $769.8 million in 2021.
The casinos have denied all allegations in the complaint but have agreed to resolve the settlement by paying $12.5 million. According to the settlement, the defendants will not take any adverse action against its current and former employees who accept a settlement payment.