Loretta Pickus<\/a> sued the casino and its owner, the Luxor Capital Group, in 2020. She claimed her employment was wrongfully terminated after she objected to casino management sending inaccurate information to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).<\/p>\nPickus argued this was a direct violation of New Jersey\u2019s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). CEPA protects employees from retaliation from employers when they blow the whistle on a company activity, policy, or practice that they reasonably believe to be against the law. Forms of retaliation include termination, demotion, or being passed up for promotion.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Casino.org<\/em> in September 2020, Pickus\u2019 attorney, Kathryn McClure, said the decision to fire Pickus had been driven by retaliation \u201cfueled by gender discrimination.\u201d This had caused her client economic and emotional harm, as well as damaging her professional reputation.<\/p>\nBut the case will not go to trial. In a filing to the New Jersey Superior court Tuesday, Ocean\u2019s attorney Elizabeth Lorell said the two parties were \u201ccurrently ironing out the complete settlement terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hiring and Firing<\/strong><\/h2>\nAccording to court documents, Pickus was fired four days after she complained about the filing of false meeting minutes of the Ocean Casino audit committee to the state gaming regulator.<\/p>\n
The meeting, in July 2019, had addressed the hiring of a new director of surveillance, Mark Evans, who was subsequently demoted for \u201csuspected deficiencies,\u201d the lawsuit claimed.<\/p>\n
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But committee member Fred DeVesa wanted the discussion about the hiring and demotion of Evans, and whether the role had been permanent or temporary, to be scrubbed from the record. That way, there would be less liability for Ocean.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nPickus later complained to then-CEO Terry Glebocki and to the DGE.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe company told Pickus that the substance of her complaints and objections were allegedly not at issue, but that the company was terminating her employment because she should have been \u2018softer\u2019 and spoken \u2018less harshly\u2019 in delivering the statements to the audit committee,\u201d the lawsuit read.<\/p>\n
Rebuck Called Out<\/strong><\/h2>\nPickus\u2019 complaint triggered a DGE investigation. But she alleged that the regulator\u2019s director, David Rebuck, accepted DeVesa\u2019s version of events — that Evans was only hired on a temporary basis — because he was a \u201cpersonal friend\u201d of DeVesa\u2019s.<\/p>\n
She also claimed Rebuck instructed Ocean and Luxor officials to fire her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people you shouldn\u2019t have in your organization. They are holdovers. They need to go,\u201d Rebuck allegedly told officials. \u201cCall me later as I do not want to name them here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A veteran of the Atlantic City gaming industry, Pickus worked for the casino in its previous incarnation, Revel. She was the only remaining member of the previous management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Atlantic City\u2019s Ocean Casino Resort has reached a settlement with a former general counsel and senior vice president who claimed she was illegally fired for whistleblowing. Loretta Pickus sued the casino and its owner, the Luxor Capital Group, in 2020. She claimed her employment was wrongfully terminated after she objected to casino management sending inaccurate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":205989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81885,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Ocean Casino Resort Settles with Whistleblower Exec in Wrongful Termination Suit - Casino.org<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n