Comments (10) | Add a comment
Former Wynn Resorts worker accuses company of failing to pay overtime
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A former Wynn Resorts Ltd. employee has sued the casino company, charging that he wasn't paid for more than 880 overtime hours worked performing tasks that ranged from conducting internal investigations to guarding company executives and celebrities.
Attorneys for Richard Derek Olsen, a former Wynn Las Vegas corporate investigator, also claimed he wasn't paid for hours spent providing security for company Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn.
Olsen's lawsuit seeks to "recover unpaid overtime compensation."
A Wynn Resorts spokeswoman on Monday declined to comment on the lawsuit, filed by attorneys with the Las Vegas office of the law firm Parker Scheer Lagomarsino.
In his lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Olsen was said he was hired in July 2008 as a corporate investigator for gaming fraud or theft, workplace accidents, vendor and business partner review and other compliance issues for Wynn Las Vegas. He was terminated by Wynn Las Vegas on July 30.
"The precise amount of overtime owed to Olsen cannot be computed with precision at the time of the filing of this complaint because he is not in possession of time records reflecting hours worked by him," the suit said. "These time records are in the exclusive possession of the Wynn."
The nine-page complaint said he was also trained as a cyber forensic investigator checking for potential computer hacker attacks, improper emails, unauthorized file copying, data theft and destruction, and other activities that could compromise Wynn's sensitive business data, trade secrets and client information.
Olsen's lawsuit said he also worked as the lead "executive and dignitary protection agent." He was assigned to details offered by Wynn Las Vegas resort and protecting Wynn, Wynn Resorts board member Elaine Wynn, former President George W. Bush, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Gov. Brian Sandoval, former Mayor Oscar Goodman and first lady Michelle Obama.
He also worked on details protecting celebrities such as Beyoncé Knowles, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Prince Albert of Monaco, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. His job responsibilities also included nightclub compliance, investigations and prostitution strings at various Wynn nightclubs.
His unpaid overtime claim includes work during Garth Brooks concerts in 2010 and 2011, the lawsuit said.
Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Would anyone knowingly want to hire this individual?
HOW TRUE "STATIONARY" HOW TRUE.
Mr. Olsen may have been--to use a gambling vernacular--playing his card(s) close to his vest. Nevada casinos just can not resist absconding with employees earnings. I have witnessed this in the past with one of Nevada's largest casino operators. Either shorting hours and overtime or refusing to honor payroll raises with twisted logic in an attempt to breach the initial employment contract. I have been a victim in the past and rather than lose my job took the loss which was fairly substantial. So what is one to do in Mr. Olsen's position with 800 hours of OT? Prudence is the rational choice. He knew that once he made the inquiry while employed his days would be numbered. Casino companies hate to part with money--they hate to lose anything and become unmercifully incensed. It is a culture of fear and the preservation of a bonus system for mid and top management (every penny counts). Why they don't pay what they owe is simply egregious. Mr. Olsen made the right decision--get it on the back end prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. No lawyer is going to file a suit on his behalf unless he was clearly eligible for overtime pay. According to the article his job was not a contract position (Even if it initially was a contract/sub-contactor position it could have easily evolved into or been from the outset an employee/employer relationship. The law recognizes the functions and activities not the title.) and he did not directly manage or supervise employees on an ongoing basis. Wynn, just pay your people and don't be like other casinos' past behavior of trying to stiff everyone in sight (e.g., sub-contractors on completed multi-billion dollar projects) its crude.
I only submit one opinionated comment per article and ignore all personal attacks by trolls.
seems to me that the disgruntled failure should be at the console of that walmart, employment device. then the sissy could demand, even shout at the monitor screen. whining its minimum wage and benefit requirement.
Was Olsen hourly or salaried? If he was on salary, OT is part of the job. He sure likes dropping names, bet he wasn't worried about OT when he was working his high visibility client shifts.
Adelson and Wynn have nothing on Station Casinos, king of the stiffs. They have a couple of frontmen who will lie, distort the facts and cheat at every turn to boost profits, at the expense of the employees.
Prostitution strings? Is that legal?
Adelson and Wynn, two greedy cheap skates that don't want to pay their people overtime. I hope karma comes back to bite them.
"former" is the functional word. did the sissy file a complaint with gubmit agencies about that missing overtime pay while it was still employed ? if not, why not ? besides the overtime issue, the beef in the employee dining room wasn't tender enough. and the toilet tissue in the employee loo, not soft enough.
Copy cat , The man in black ran this story two days ago,All Fluff Lets do a story on congressman John Tierney,Howie.