Aria, Luxor Settle EEOC Vaccine Bias Complaints

Two major Las Vegas Strip properties, Aria Resort & Casino and Luxor Hotel and Casino, have reached settlements with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) amid allegations claiming they didn’t accommodate their employees’ religious beliefs during their COVID-19 vaccine policy implementation.

The EEOC announced earlier this week that the resorts, which are operated by MGM Resorts International under individual licenses, faced complaints claiming that workers were denied religious exemptions to the company’s vaccine requirements. 

Separate Conciliation Agreements 

After a thorough investigation, the agency whose purpose is to enforce laws “that make discrimination illegal in the workplace” announced that it found “reasonable cause” to believe that both casinos under question had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

The latter requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs, unless doing so would create an “undue hardship”.

According to the EEOC, the two Vegas Strip properties agreed to settle via separate conciliation agreements, without admitting their wrongdoing. 

Religious Accommodation Training, Underway

While details of the agreements were not made public, the agency stated that the resorts would be asked to offer specialized training to their HR departments on religious accommodations under Title VII. The EEOC will also monitor ongoing compliance.

Michael Mendoza, director of the EEOC’s Las Vegas office, praised the move as a step toward better workplace practices.

“We commend both the Aria and the Luxor for putting in place training measures that will have a lasting impact on workers seeking religious accommodations in the workplace,” Mendoza said.

The Venetian, Fined in a Similar Lawsuit

The EEOC’s recent action comes just weeks after a similar case involving The Venetian, another high-profile Strip resort. 

In that case, the hotel-casino agreed to pay $850,000 and make sweeping changes to its internal policies to resolve a religious discrimination lawsuit also related to vaccine mandates.

The settlement in the suit filed before Apollo’s $2.25 billion acquisition of the property three years ago once again highlights the growing scrutiny employers face regarding the way they tackle requests for religious exemptions, especially in response to health-related mandates.