Riverside Resort Laughlin Faces Big Penalty for Alleged Security Mistreatment

Posted on: March 20, 2024, 07:25h. 

Last updated on: March 21, 2024, 11:44h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Riverside Resort & Casino in Laughlin, Nev., could be on the hook for $500K after it failed to inform regulators about some serious behavior by its security staff, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Riverside Resort & Casino, Loughlin, security, Nevada Gaming Control Board
Don Loughlin’s Riverside Resort & Casino in Loughlin, Nev, above. Some of the casino’s security officers have been involved in troubling incidents that the casino failed to report to regulators. (Image: Wikipedia)

On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) will deliberate on whether to impose the fine recommended last month by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).

The transgression relates to a bizarre incident in which four members of Riverside’s security staff were charged by police with coercion with physical force and false imprisonment of a colleague.

False Drug Use Allegation

On Aug. 9, 2022, a Riverside employee was falsely accused by security of smoking weed during his shift at the casino, according to the complaint. When the worker denied the accusation, a human resources officer told security personnel to send the employee home pending an investigation.

Instead, a security guard told the employee he should take a drug test or resign. An argument ensued, and the security official told the employee he was fired.

When the employee tried to leave, two security guards blocked his exit. He tried to push past the officers to get to the door, but was pulled to the floor by four members of security. One guard punched him five times as he lay on the ground.

The Justice Court of Laughlin Township issued arrest warrants for all four security officers on March 27, 2023.

Guards Mocked Accent

In a separate incident, also unreported to regulators, security officers were called to eject a patron who had refused to leave. The player had been using a slot machine when an accounting procedure on the machine interrupted his play.

The patron first asked why he had to leave, but then acquiesced and walked toward the exit with his friends while being escorted by security officers. As he approached the exit, one of the guards mocked his accent.

The patron took exception and confronted the officer. He was wrestled to the ground and placed in handcuffs, according to the complaint. The patron’s leg was injured in the scuffle, and he required hospital treatment.

The Riverside Casino is one of the oldest in Nevada. It was built in 1966 on the site of an abandoned motel by Don Laughlin, the gaming entrepreneur who lent his name to the town and who died in October 2022, at age 92.