Wynn Dealers Tokes
In order to pay their supervisors and pit bosses more, the Wynn (and its sister property the Encore) gave supervisors and pit bosses a $5,000 annual raise and a share of the dealers’ tips (commonly called tokes). The policy has been challenged for several years by a group of the Wynn’s dealers.
- Under the March 28 policy, all table game dealers' tokes were collected over a 24-hour period and counted by a dealer-elected toke committee. The tokes were then distributed amongst the dealers based on hours worked and accrued vacation and sick time. And then by a majority of the voting.99 dealers. Another Wynn policy, the April 13, 2005.
- The dealers in Wynn alleged violations of three statutes, NRS 608.160, 608.100, and 613.120. Nevada Revised Statutes 608.100 states: 1. It is unlawful for any employer to: (a) Pay a lower wage, salary or compensation to an employee than the amount agreed upon.
- The amount at stake is about $50 million, according to Wynn Resorts and Josh Buck, a lawyer representing the dealers. Wynn agreed to pay an additional $463 million to settle its battle with.
- Floor Supervisors get paid $225 per shift, plus a percentage of the dealer's tokes, so on average, they make $320 per shift. 2013: For one random day for the month of July, the dealers made $506. 2009: When the Encore opened the dealers were put on a 7 day split. 2009: The dealers at the Wynn and Encore have the same toke.
IF YOU ARE STILL EMPLOYED BY THE WYNN/ENCORE DO NOT SEND INFORMATION ON YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS TO THE ATTORNEYS HANDLING THIS CASE - AS LONG AS THE WYNN/ENCORE HAS YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS YOU WILL BE PROPERLY MAILED ANY PAPERS YOU SHOULD RECEIVE ABOUT THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT
On December 21, 2020, the attorneys representing the Wynn and Encore table games dealers filed a request that the federal district court grant approval to a proposed settlement of the long pending cases over the Wynn and Encore’s tip pooling policy for table game dealers. As you are aware, that policy, requiring dealers to share tips with CSTL employees (or “floormen”), ended in November of 2018. These lawsuits concern the impact of that policy prior to November of 2018. The information provided in this website is fully accurate and please rely on it. Do not rely on “rumors” or other information you may hear about this proposed settlement.
PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE ATTORNEYS’ OFFICES WITH QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME—WE ARE NOT ABLE TO TAKE PHONE CALLS RIGHT NOW. PLEASE READ THIS WEBSITE FIRST, AND IF YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE BUT SEND AN EMAIL TO ATTORNEY@WYNNLAWSUIT.COM, AND WE WILL TRY TO RESPOND WITHIN A FEW DAYS.
Summary of Proposed Settlement
1. There is a PROPOSED settlement that EACH Wynn and Encore table games dealer will have to decide to accept or reject. No dealer will be forced to accept the proposed settlement. If they do not agree to the settlement they can proceed with a lawsuit against the Wynn or Encore if they want. However, the attorneys handling the current lawsuits against the Wynn and Encore are recommending that all of their clients agree to the proposed settlement. Those attorneys are also asking the Court to relieve them as the attorney for any Wynn or Encore dealer who does not want to accept the settlement. If the Court grants that request, any dealer that does not want to accept the settlement and wishes continue with a lawsuit against Wynn or Encore will have to file a new lawsuit and retain an attorney to represent them.
2. Each dealer WILL BE SENT INFORMATION BY MAIL about the details of the proposed settlement and how they can accept or reject the settlement. There is no specific date on which that information will be sent, and it will not be sent until the Court issues an Order directing that it be sent. It is hoped that each dealer will receive that information by mail within the next 90 days. This website will be updated with information about any Order issued by the Court and the sending of that information by mail to all of the dealers. It is hoped that all settlement payments will be made during the second or third quarter of 2021 BUT THERE IS NO SET DATE AT THIS TIME FOR THOSE PAYMENTS TO BE MADE. This website will provide that information when it is available.
Details of the Proposed Settlement - Issues
1. The proposed settlement involves, as does the settlement of almost any court case, a compromise. It does not pay the dealers every possible dollar they might collect in the lawsuits if they were 100% successful in court on every issue. The attorneys representing the dealers in those lawsuits believe the proposed settlement is a fair and reasonable compromise and are recommending its acceptance as it is also possible that the dealers could lose their lawsuits and collect nothing.
2. One of the lawsuits, the Tang case, involves the Wynn and Encore tip pool from March of 2018 through November of 2018. Every Wynn and Encore table games dealer who worked during that time period will have an opportunity to receive a Tang case settlement payment. Those proposed payments are listed HERE.
3. The other lawsuit is the Cesarz case, involving the Wynn and Encore tip pool from May of 2011 through March of 2018. Every Wynn and Encore table games dealer who worked between January 31, 2017 and March of 2018 will have an opportunity to receive a Cesarz case settlement payment. Dealers who only worked prior to January 31, 2017 will only receive a settlement payment from the Cesarz case if they previously filed a written consent with the Court to join the Cesarz case. Those proposed payments are listed HERE.
4. Some dealers will be eligible to receive a settlement payment from both the Cesarz case settlement and the Tang case settlement.
5. The amount each dealer will receive as a Cesarz and/or Tang case settlement is on an per capita basis, reflecting how much they originally received from the Wynn and/or Encore tip pool. The attorneys for the dealers have carefully reviewed the tip pool information to be sure that per capita distribution is properly and fairly calculated. Dealers who originally received more from the tip pool have larger claims for tips improperly taken and will receive larger settlement payments. In respect to the Cesarz settlement payments, that per capita distribution calculation also takes into account when a dealer filed a written consent with the court to join the Cesarz case. Settlement payments in Cesarz only consider the tip pool amounts a dealer received during the three years prior to their filing of a written consent to join that case, or if they did not file any written consent, the time period from January 31, 2017 to March of 2018.
6. The settlement payments made in the Cesarz case are much smaller than those made in the Tang case. The Cesarz case was dismissed (lost by the dealers) and is under appeal. There are important differences in the legal claims made in Tang and Cesarz. And while the attorneys representing the dealers believe the Wynn and Encore’s tip pooling policy was improper there is no guarantee the dealers will be successful in either the Tang or Cesarz case. For that reason, based on all of the relevant circumstances, the attorneys believe the proposed settlement is fair and reasonable and should be accepted by all of the dealers.
7. The total amount that Wynn and Encore will pay under the proposed settlement, if every dealer agrees to accept it, is $5,600,000. The attorneys representing the dealers will receive 25% of that amount as a fee under the proposed settlement and $10,000 to pay for certain expenses they incurred in prosecuting the case, with $20,000 of that amount paid to an administrator who will process the settlement payments and $10,000 paid to each of the two lead plaintiffs in Cesarz and Tang who worked to prosecute the cases (and took the risk of doing so) for all of the dealers. Additional details of the proposed settlement will be in the papers mailed to each dealer.
Wynn Dealers Tokes Maine
The Wynn’s Tip-Pooling Policy Held Unlawful By a District Court Judge
On November 10, 2011, District Judge Kenneth Cory in Las Vegas found the Wynn’s policy requiring dealers to split their tips with floor supervisors and pit bosses unlawful under Nevada law. The Wynn originally enacted this policy five-years ago to raise the salaries of its pit bosses and supervisors to the level of pay received by dealers. In order to pay their supervisors and pit bosses more, the Wynn (and its sister property the Encore) gave supervisors and pit bosses a $5,000 annual raise and a share of the dealers’ tips (commonly called tokes).
The policy has been challenged for several years by a group of the Wynn’s dealers. Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek had previously stated the tip-pooling policy was not unlawful and supported by Nevada law. Judge Kenneth Cory reversed the Labor Commissioner’s decision and held the tip-pooling policy did violate Nevada law.
Wynn Dealers Tokes Locations
At the heart of the dispute is whether or not the Wynn received a direct benefit from taking dealers’ tips and providing them to the casino’s pit bosses and supervisors. Wynn argued that it had not received a direct benefit because it was merely redistributing funds amongst its staff members. The dealers argued Wynn’s policy allowed the casino to take money from the dealers in order to pay its supervisors and pit bosses less from the Wynn’s coffers. The dealers argued the Wynn was receiving a direct benefit from its tip-pooling policy.
After careful consideration, Judge Cory decided with the dealers because deciding in favor of the Wynn “in the face of the demonstrable evidence of the direct economic benefit to Wynn would be to eviscerate the meaning of ‘direct benefit to an employer.’” This decision is certain to be appealed by the Wynn, through its legal counsel, Las Vegas based Gregory Kamer. The Nevada Supreme Court has never directly addressed the issue posed by this case. The closest the Nevada high court has come to this issue is to hold tips may be pooled among employees in the same job classifications. Given the back log of cases at the Nevada Supreme Court, which is primarily due to the fact that Nevada does not have an intermediate appellate court (an important topic for an entirely different blog post), this case could take several more years to finally be decided.
What this Decision Means or Could Mean:
It is too early to say what this decision means. The case will be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court and any effects will be on hold until that case is decided. However, if this decision were to be affirmed by the Nevada Supreme Court, dealers who worked for the Wynn would be entitled to a share of the money that has been diverted from them. The estimates of this amount of money have been placed at $5 million per year. The policy has been in place for five years and would result in a pool of up to $25 million payable to the dealers. This case has been big news in Las Vegas and in gaming circles outside of Las Vegas. Often as gaming regulations and related laws change in Nevada, other states follow. If affirmed by the Nevada Supreme Court, this decision could have ripple effects throughout Las Vegas and the gaming world.