Wynn Resorts Agrees to $5.6 Million Settlement for Illegal Tip Sharing

Wynn Resorts Inc. has agreed to pay $5.6 million to settle two class action lawsuits brought by a gaming union on behalf of roughly 1000 dealers who were forced to share tips with non-dealer staff. The proposed settlement may bring to an end a decade and a half of controversy surrounding former CEO Steve Wynn’s illegal decision that casino dealers should share tips with pit bosses and other supervisors.

As much as $50 million in dealer tips are reported to have been lost since Wynn replaced supervisory roles with generic “casino service team leads” titles. Dealers were forced to share 12% of their pooled tips with the supervisors, one dealer claiming in 2018 that this had cost her as much as $100,000 over the 15 years the policy was implemented.

This week’s settlement was signed by U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon, his judgment stating: “The court finds the proposed settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act for those collective action members, all of whom are current or former employees of (the) defendant, that elect to participate in such settlement.” Legal costs of more than $1.4 million would be taken from the settlement, the estimated 1,000 current and former dealers only receiving an average payout of $4,170.