Mount Airy Casino Faces $5 Million Lawsuit From Disgruntled Table Game Dealers

Posted on: February 11, 2025, 04:32h. 

Last updated on: February 11, 2025, 04:32h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Mount Airy Casino Resort has been sued by two former employees who dealt cards at the Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains property.

Mount Airy Casino Resort lawsuit Pennsylvania
The Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, PA. The casino is being sued by two former table game dealers who claim the resort willfully violated federal and state labor laws. (Image: Shutterstock)

Plaintiffs Jennifer Mak and William Neidig allege in a proposed class-action lawsuit in Harrisburg’s federal court that they were cheated out of tips that were rightfully theirs and other financial compensation.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs allege Mount Airy violated the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law, and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Mount Airy Casino Resort has not yet responded to the class-action lawsuit in Pennsylvania’s Middle District Court. The casino said only that it doesn’t comment publicly on pending litigation.

Mount Airy was developed by Louis DeNaples, whose ties to the Bufalino crime family forced him to transfer ownership of the project to his daughter to secure a state-issued gaming license. 

Casino Lawsuit Allegations 

Mak and Neidig’s lawsuit asserts that Mount Airy claimed a tip credit as allowed under FSLA, which permitted the casino to deduct from its tax duties the difference between the dealers’ minimum cash wages and the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour

However, because the casino failed to inform dealers about the tip credit provisions, as mandated by federal and state law, the litigation says the casino was not allowed to claim the tip credit and the difference should therefore be returned to the impacted employees. The tip credit was claimed for both regular and overtime hours.

Mount Airy is also accused of implementing a mandatory tip pooling policy not unlike the infamous 15-year legal saga at Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas that was remedied in March 2021 with a $5.6 million settlement. The lawsuit alleges that Mount Airy violated federal and state laws by sharing the tip money with paid time off employees and certain non-tipped managers and supervisors.

The plaintiffs contend that the casino additionally used a time clock that rounded down, which resulted in the company’s “failure to compensate its employees properly for all time worked.” The complaint also levies accusations that Mount Airy miscalculated employees’ overtime pay.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and at least $5 million in damages exclusive of interest, attorneys’ fees, and court costs. 

Mak Is Back 

This isn’t the first time Mak has sued her casino employer in Pennsylvania.

In 2012, then a table game trainee at Parx north of Philadelphia, Mak accused the casino of not accommodating her epilepsy disability. In that claim, Mak alleged that her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act were violated after she was terminated about 6.5 months into the role.

Mak was undergoing table game training during her more than six months with Parx. She wasn’t hired for a permanent position, which she claimed was because of her condition.

Mak says a hiring manager told her he was concerned that she could have a seizure on the gaming floor. She said she spent the bulk of the interview defending her ability to do the job with her health condition.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice in December 2013 after Mak and Parx’s parent company — Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Inc. — settled the matter out of court.