Ex-Harrah’s Vice President Files COVID Related Case against Caesars Inc.
Former Executive at Harrah’s Resort Southern California Files Lawsuit Against Casino for Exposing Clients to Coronavirus
San Diego, California – Caesars Entertainment, the company that operates Harrah’s Resort Southern California, has been sued by Darrell Pilant, the casino’s former senior vice president and general manager, for failing to take adequate measures to protect staff and residents from coronavirus health risks before its reopening.
The casino, which is located at Valley Center, resumed its operations in May, a move the plaintiff claims led to “serious adverse health and safety consequences involving employees and customers contracting COVID-19.”
Pilant’s legal team filed a lawsuit last week in San Diego Superior Court claiming he was terminated after the management ignored his concerns that the decision to reopen the casino was dangerous and could expose clients to the COVID-19 virus.
The casino reopened on May 22, a day after Pilant quit his management job at the gaming property after a series of disputes he had with company officials over safety-related concerns. He had worked for the casino for 22 years and was once named general manager at the Harrah’s Resort Southern California.
“The health of our guests, employees, and surrounding community remains to be our top priority. It is due to this commitment to our patrons and staff that we are pleased to reopen the doors of our gaming facility,” Bo Mazzetti, the chairman of Rincon Tribal that owns Harrah’s Resort Southern California, said ahead of the reopening. “We have implemented robust reopening guidelines from the National Indian Gaming Commission and Caesars Entertainment that include strong sanitization protocols, social distancing procedures, and limiting the capacity of the guests allowed at a time in the casino,” he added.
Despite San Diego County officials refusing to name the specific casinoes and other businesses where coronavirus cases were confirmed, a local news source reports that 217 people who attended seven of the county’s nine tribal casinos were diagnosed with COVID-19. One former casino patron died.
The San Diego County spokesperson said that although the patrons tested positive for coronavirus and had visited a casino before the test, “It doesn’t mean they contracted the coronavirus there.”
