Ex-Wynn Server Takes Lower Payout in Ongoing FMLA Battle

A cocktail server who used to work at Wynn Las Vegas has decided to take a much smaller damages payment. This comes after a federal judge said the jury’s earlier award was too high in a case about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Judge Questions Jury’s Damage Award in Wynn Server’s Family Leave Lawsuit

Tiare Ramirez, who worked at the Las Vegas Strip resort from 2008 until Wynn fired her in 2017, will get $27,200.75 instead of the $321,200 a jury gave her last year, reported The Las Vegas Review-Journal. US District Judge Andrew Gordon made this call after he decided the evidence from the five-day trial could not back up the jury’s math for lost wages, emotional distress, and punitive damages.

Christian Gabroy, Ramirez’s lawyer, said his client took the smaller amount to skip a new trial about damages. However, he pointed out she can still appeal and stressed that the court agreed with the jury that Wynn broke her FMLA rights.

The lawsuit originates from an event in March 2017. Ramirez requested FMLA leave but later appeared in social media posts at a gender reveal party. She wore high heels even though she had given her employer a doctor’s note mentioning ankle problems caused by similar shoes. Wynn began an internal inquiry the next day. Ramirez used up her FMLA and union-negotiated leave over several months. In November 2017, the company fired her. They cited “willful misconduct” and dishonesty as the reasons for her dismissal.

Jury Finds Wynn Violated FMLA Rights Despite Rejecting ADA Claims

Although the jury dismissed Ramirez’s assertion that her Americans with Disabilities Act rights were violated, it concluded that Wynn had infringed upon her FMLA rights. The original award aimed to make up for financial losses and emotional distress, but Judge Gordon determined that the amounts lacked proper justification.

Along with the lowered damages, the judge granted prejudgment interest of $6,722.91. However, he turned down both Wynn’s request to penalize Ramirez’s lawyers and Ramirez’s own appeals for extra compensation.

Wynn Resorts has stayed silent on the verdict.Ramirez started the lawsuit in 2019, almost two years after she lost her job. The legal battle went on for years, but her lawyer called the result a big win. It showed that firing her was not okay by law. This case also shines a light on how hard it can be for workers to deal with medical leave rules and the close watch that often comes with it.