Three Nevada casinos sued over coronavirus protections for workers, unions claim dangerous working conditions

Unions that represent 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno sued three Nevada casino properties Monday, claiming dangerous working conditions that fail to protect workers from the still accelerating coronavirus outbreak.

The Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 filed the lawsuit on Monday against Harrah's Las Vegas, owned by Caesars Entertainment Corp, and the Bellagio and Signature Condominiums, both subsidiaries of MGM Resorts International," reports Reuters:

The lawsuit claims the companies have not sufficiently protected workers and their families from the spread of COVID-19, and that the current rules and procedures for responding to workers who contract COVID-19 have been inadequate.

Among other claims, the lawsuit alleges the companies failed to immediately inform employees about co-workers who tested positive, and only encouraged" guests to wear face masks while in public areas until June 24, the day the Nevada governor ordered guests to wear them.

We have offered free testing to all employees before they report to work and require it if they exhibit symptoms or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive and we have made available tests in other circumstances that do not dictate that a test is required," an MGM Resorts International spokesman said in a statement.

We have worked to train our managers in our incident response protocols and we work very closely with the health department officials in their efforts to contact trace."

Unions sue three Nevada casino properties, claiming dangerous working conditions