Paradise Township, PA – Former employees of Mount Airy Casino Resort are taking legal action, accusing the establishment of shortchanging their wages and overtime pay in excess of $5 million. The plaintiffs, Jennifer Mak and William Neidig, have initiated a lawsuit, alleging systemic abuses including improper tip pooling, inaccuracies in clocking work hours and miscalculations in overtime payments, all under violation of both federal and state labor laws.
Filed on February 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the lawsuit argues that these practices breach the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, and the state Wage Payment and Collection Law. The former casino employees seek to represent potentially thousands of affected staff members in what might escalate into a class-action battle against the casino operator, Mount Airy #1 LLC.
Central to the contention is the casino’s management of tips meant for employees. The case details an alleged misuse of the federally permissible “tip credit” system. This setup allows employers to pay direct wages lower than the minimum ($7.25 per hour in Pennsylvania), on condition that tips cover the shortfall. However, the casino is accused not only of failing to adequately inform staff about these arrangements but also purportedly using pooled tips to subsidize paid time off for higher-ranking, non-tipped staff.
Moreover, the lawsuit targets the casino’s method of calculating working hours. It asserts that Mount Airy rounds work hours to fifteen-minute intervals, disadvantaging employees. This rounding practice reportedly misses compensating for the full extent of hours worked, breaching minimum wage and overtime laws. Together with allegations of incorrectly calculated overtime pay rates, these practices, the plaintiffs argue, signify a deliberate disregard for lawful wage payment.
The filing also throws light on personal stories. Mak, employed as a table games dealer from September 2022 to July 2023, along with Neidig, who served from September 2020 to April 2024, both recount that their wages were not just below standards but also improperly calculated for overtime purposes.
In response to the legal challenge, Nicole Krieger, a spokeswoman for Mount Airy, indicated that the casino typically refrains from discussing ongoing litigation. As of now, no formal response has been recorded by the resort in court.
If the lawsuit achieves class action status, it is estimated that the potential class might include hundreds, if not thousands, of current and former employees, all of whom would be eligible to join the legal action actively.
Legal representation for the plaintiffs includes teams from Weisberg Cummings PC of Harrisburg, Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP from Kansas City, Missouri, and McClelland Law Firm PC of Liberty, Missouri. As the case develops, the courts will need to address the challenge of substantiating the claims made, determining whether Mount Airy systematically violated wage laws.
A successful class certification would not only help address grievances but also potentially shape employer-employee dynamics across the state’s gaming industry, enforcing stricter adherence to wage laws and fair labor practices.
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