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Dealer's
"Sick-Call" Crisis
In their
quest for profits the casinos are putting unlawful pressure on
dealers to eliminate or greatly reduce sick calls, even if they
are completely legitimate. The following letter to Paul Pusateri,
the President of Paris, represents our position on the matter.
NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF GAMING EMPLOYEES
1067 Griffith Avenue
Las Vegas, Nevada 89104
(702) 474-9766 fax: (702) 474-9767
September 20, 2000
Paul Pusateri, President
Paris Hotel & Casino
3655 Las Vegas Blvd.-South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Dear Mr. Pusateri:
Enclosed with this letter you will find a copy of an email we
received from one of our members on September 16, 2000.
This is just the latest in a string of statements we
received from other Paris Casino employees describing similar
abuses suffered at the hands of the same individual, Mr.Tuthill.
We have in our files a number of cases where employees with
legitimate medical conditions have been denied the right to sick
time and have been forced to work against their will due to
unlawful threats and intimidation by Mr. Tuthill.
Before I continue I would like to make it perfectly clear
that I do not feel it is my place to tell you as a property
manager how to run your business; nor do I think it appropriate
for me to tell you what policies you should use to manage your
employees---however, we do live in a land of laws, and everyone
must abide by them. And that includes you and me, and most
certainly your agent Mr. Tuthill.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (29 U.S.C. § 2601-2654)
entitles employees to take reasonable leave for medical reasons.
The Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 825.203 (c) (1)
specifically allows "Intermittent Leave" that...
"may include leave of periods from an hour or more to several
weeks."
Section 2613 sets the requirement that the illness or
health condition should be certified by the health care provider
and that the employee should provide this certification to the
employer in a timely manner. The case described in this enclosure
specifically mentions a doctor's note. Mr. Tuthill chose to ignore
it.
Section 2615 states that it is unlawful for any employer to
interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt
to exercise, any right provided under this subchapter.
Enforcement, under Section 2617, allows civil action by employees
against any employer who violates Section 2615 of this title.
Given the nature of the violations of federal law, there is
reason to address this issue to the corporate level of Park Place
Entertainment. But since it is our intention to simply rectify the
problem and not to inflict undue injury on your organization, we
are addressing this problem directly to you.
The NFGE has an obligation to our members to assist them in
resolving work related issues, especially when health and safety
matters are involved, by whatever lawful means are open to us.
This, we intend to do.
We ask that you take the necessary steps to investigate and
resolve this issue and install safeguards so that the violations
of the FMLA do not continue. If we can be of any help or if you
would like to discuss this matter, please contact us.
Very truly yours,
Jack Lipsman, VP
National Federation of Gaming Employees
>>>
ENCLOSURE- (Email received from NFGE Member)
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Subj:
sickdays
Date: 09/16/2000 7:23:37 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: # 27-LV (coded for anonymity)
To: dealers@nfge.com
What are our rights concerning sick days? I
work at Paris Las Vegas and recently dealers have begun
getting warning slips and suspensions for sick caIls.
One dealer was forced to work with an abscessed
tooth: She had called in (her 6th call-in this year) to
have an emergency root canal when she woke up in pain that
morning, she was notified she would be receiving a warning
slip for the call-in but she felt she had no other option.
That night the botched root-canal inflamed and she woke up
with her face so badly swollen, and in so much pain, she
went to the emergency room at the hospital and received a
shot of demerol for the pain at 8am.
She reported for work at noon with Dr's notes in
hand and told Jerry Tuthill (day shift boss) that she was
on demerol and codeine, still in pain and very sick from
the infection and antibiotics and didn't feel she could
perform her duties. At this point she looked like a
chipmunk, her face was so badly swollen, and she was
undeniably very ill indeed.
Jerry gave her the warning slip for the previous
day's call-in and told her that if she called in sick or
went home I more day in the next year from the date of the
warning slip she would be suspended for 3 days; once more
... and she would be terminated. On the warning slip
her absence was listed as UNEXCUSED. Then he very
sarcastically asked her "would you like to go home
now?" She stayed.
Can they do this to us? I've never seen anything
like it before. They say we only get 6 sick days a year;
then when we get the warning slip they say we can't call
in again for another full year.. .isn't that stretching it
to 2 years? I don't get it.
Isn't a Dr's note an excused absence? Again, I
don't get it. If they force dealers to work sick aren't
they exposing all of us to illness and perpetuating the
problem themselves? If we go home sick that's also
considered a sick call.
As of yesterday a flu epidemic is now at Paris.
Dealers are working sick because they have reached their
maximum sick days allowed. Jerry knows they are sick. This
has got to stop. |
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