Strip resort will pay six-figure settlement in religious discrimination, retaliation lawsuit
The Venetian hotel-casino will pay $850,000 and implement "significant policy changes" via a three-year consent decree to settle the suit, the EEOC said in a news release.
The federal agency said The Venetian Resort Las Vegas violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by "refusing to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of a class of employees" and allegedly "retaliated against employees who opposed these acts of religious discrimination." According to the EEOC lawsuit, "in some cases denial of accommodation led to discipline, denial of promotion opportunities and discharge or constructive discharge."
"We are aware of the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint was procedural in nature as the parties have already reached a voluntary resolution in the matter, with no admission of liability or wrongdoing," a Venetian spokesperson said Thursday.
Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC's Los Angeles District, whose jurisdiction includes Las Vegas, commended The Venetian for "their cooperation in the early resolution of this lawsuit and agreeing to implement proactive measures to ensure religious accommodation requests are handled more effectively."
"The law protects the rights of workers in our pluralistic society to live out their various faiths in the workplace," said EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. "As this case shows, reasonable accommodation might look like, among other things, allowing certain days off for Sabbatarians or Buddhists and allowing beards for Orthodox Christians. It also means not punishing anyone who speaks out in favor of these rights."
The Venetian will pay the six-figure sum as well as provide additional training for employees, managers and supervisors on employee rights and the obligations of employers when it comes to religious accommodations under Title VII. The decree also requires The Venetian to hire an independent third party to help review and update its religious accommodation policies and complaint procedures, and to keep track of whether the company is following the rules during the 36 months the decree is in effect.
The Venetian is owned by VICI Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust, and operated by Apollo Global Management Inc., a New York City-based investment firm. Apollo and VICI purchased The Venetian, the Palazzo hotel-casino and The Venetian Expo for $6.25 billion in 2022 from the Las Vegas Sands Corp.
The charges of discrimination and retaliation that prompted the EEOC lawsuit were filed with the agency prior to the 2022 sale. The settlement amount is being paid by the current operators of The Venetian.
The aggrieved employees who filed complaints with the EEOC belonged to diverse faiths, including but not limited to, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Buddhism, according to the lawsuit.
The EEOC filed its lawsuit in June in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada "following a lengthy voluntary pre-litigation mediation process after a resolution could not be achieved through the agency's conciliation process," the release said.
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