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Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Caesars Entertainment Over Norovirus Outbreak
PRWEB
A class action lawsuit was filed by Marler Clark on Tuesday against Caesars Entertainment, owners of the Las Vegas Flamingo Hotel at the center of a Norovirus outbreak that has sickened hundreds. Attorneys for the plaintiffs contend that, even after it learned of the outbreak, the Flamingo Hotel failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the further spread of illness among its patrons and guests. Seattle foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark representing victims.
SEATTLE, WA (PRWEB) November 6, 2004 -- A class action lawsuit was filed by Marler Clark on Tuesday against Caesars Entertainment, owners of the Las Vegas Flamingo Hotel at the center of a Norovirus outbreak that has sickened hundreds. The lawsuit was filed in Clark County District Court (Case number A494586) on behalf of Joanne and Kenneth Schrembeck, and all similarly situated persons. The Schrembecks are Ohio residents who were vacationing in Las Vegas when Ms. Schrembeck became ill with Norovirus infection. Co-counsel in the case is Campbell & Williams, a respected Las Vegas law firm.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs contend that, even after it learned of the outbreak, the Flamingo Hotel failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the further spread of illness among its patrons and guests. Recent accounts from guests seem to corroborate the theory. John McCurdy and his brother, Martin, vacationing at the Flamingo over the Halloween weekend, saw no warning signs about the outbreak in the bedrooms, restaurants, or elsewhere, and the front desk did not warn them when they checked into the hotel. They did, however, see workers in white suits walking through the halls. When John asked one suited worker what was happening, the worker failed to say anything about the outbreak, instead stating Were the Ghostbusters. John and Martin McCurdy both became infected with Norovirus and violently ill at the beginning of their stay at the Flamingo.
We have been contacted by numerous people whose vacations were ruined because they became ill and were stuck in their hotel rooms or even worse, in the hospital, with a Norovirus infection, said William Marler, attorney for the plaintiffs. Two-thirds of the people who became ill were hotel workers. That suggests to me that the Flamingo did not have a policy for keeping ill workers at home.
After a Norovirus outbreak in 1996, a Washoe County, Nevada, jury awarded $25.2 million in punitive damages to members of a class action lawsuit brought against the Reno Hilton and Park Place Entertainment. Punitive damages were awarded by the jury reportedly because they did not feel that the Reno Hilton had proper sick leave policies in place to discourage ill workers from coming to work while sick and that the hotel had had notice that its employees were working while ill.
At some point, if the hotel and restaurant industries do not act, theyre going to face state laws that require the inclusion of paid sick leave in their employee benefit packages, added Denis Stearns, a partner at Marler Clark. Do employers really expect their employees to stay home when theyre sick if they arent getting paid for the time they miss? Lets be realistic.
Its not a labor relations issue. Its a public health issue, as a jury seemed to make evident in their punitive damages award in the Reno Hilton case, Stearns concluded.
ABOUT MARLER CLARK: Marler Clark has extensive experience representing victims of foodborne illnesses. The firm has represented thousands of food poisoning victims since 1993, when William Marler represented Brianne Kiner in her $15.6 million E. coli settlement with Jack in the Box. The firm represented most of the seriously injured victims of the Odwalla apple juice E. coli outbreak of 1998, the Sun Orchard Salmonella outbreak of 1999, the Sizzler E. coli outbreak of 2000, the Wendys E. coli outbreak of 2001, and the ConAgra E. coli outbreak of 2002. Marler Clark recently resolved the claims of over 50 victims of the Chilis Salmonella outbreak in Vernon Hills, Illinois, and is presently involved in Chi Chis hepatitis A and Sheetz Salmonella litigation.
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