Argosy’s charmed life; Paging “Jersey Shore”; Boyd’s (alleged) botch

It’s The Perils of Pauline over at Penn National Gaming‘s Argosy Sioux City. A July 1 closure has been stayed until July 10 while Judge Eliza Ovrom ponders the merits of the case. She’s scheduled final arguments for the 10th, leaving Argosy teetering on a precipice. Judge Ovrom calls the stay “breathing room” while she combs through the pros and cons. “I don’t think there’s significant harm to any other party by this brief stay,” she said.

Penn attorneys made the argument that no one was being harmed by keeping the casino open until Aug. 1. An attorney for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City responded,  “The court can’t give them what they don’t have, which is an agreement with a [nonprofit].” Ovrom’s timeline still gives Penn time to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court before Aug. 1. Iowa Assistant Attorney General John Lundquist faulted Penn for being dilatory in appeal its shutdown date, precipitating the crisis: “”If this harm was so great and apparent going forward, why weren’t we litigating this case weeks ago, rather than wait to today?”

Penn attorney Mark Weinhardt had a surprise up his sleeve, when he “told the court if a more permanent stay of the IRGC action were granted, Argosy would restart revenue-sharing to [Missouri River Historic Development]. That would ensure that the nonprofit was not harmed by the boat staying open, he said.” Penn’s endgame is to stay open indefinitely, even though acknowledges that Hard Rock will probably become the premier casino in the market, which it thinks will grow.

Three idiots in the great state of New Jersey threw out a winning lottery ticket. Now they want the Garden State to rectify their mistake. They’re suing Gov. Chris Christie, among other parties for not being more tech-savvy. The plaintiffs’ argument that “we do everything on our phones and computers now,” strikes me as less than compelling. Christie, meanwhile, has a bill to permit unregulated sports wagering sitting on his desk.

Scarlet PearlD’Iberville, Mississippi, has joined the ranks of casino towns on the Gulf Coast, after Scarlet Pearl Casino was approved for construction. The $250 million project’s scheduled amenities include 36 holes of miniature golf. Mindful of recent declines in revenue, Mississippi Gaming Commission Executive Director Allen Godfrey said saturation was not his board’s concern, Mississippi being a free-market state with unlimited licenses. “That’s the market [the state] chose.” A Jacobs Entertainment casino project in Diamondhead got the thumbs-down, however … for being too far inland. Back to the drawing board, fellas.

A lawsuit against Boyd Gaming has been certified for class-action status. It involves half-dozen employees (but potentially thousands more) boyd-gaming-200who accuse Boyd of shorting them on overtime pay. The company also stands accused of rounding down employee timesheets to the lower quarter-hour. The lawsuit also alleges that, in a Walmart-style move, Boyd has required employees to work off the clock. The Orleans and Gold Coast are identified as the sites of some of the alleged abuses.

U.S. District Court James Mahan found that Boyd “deprives hourly, non-exempt employees of wages for time worked …  the plaintiffs have made a sufficient showing to justify a collective action for all hourly, non-exempt, cash-handling employees at The Orleans and Gold Coast casinos.” What plaintiffs failed to prove, Mahan wrote, was the existence of a company-wide policy of wage deprivation. If guilty as charged, what Boyd is doing is just plain wrong and inexcusable — and a blotch on the image of a usually admirable company.

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