Gates hit with suit over Kiosk

The controversy over a coffee kiosk concession at McCarran International Airport has resulted in a lawsuit alleging County Commmissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates pulled strings to keep the contract from being fulfilled.

At issue is a second airport kiosk that Gary Naseef's Las Vegas Gourmet Coffee company was supposed to open.

The lawsuit contends Gates used her position to help a friend, Naseef's former wife, at a time when the couple was in the midst of an contentious divorce.

Naseef's sole kiosk has been closed, although there is a court order allowing it to stay open until an earlier lawsuit, filed in January by Host Marriott Services Corp. to evict his business from the C-gate, is decided at a trial.

Naseef's first kiosk opened in 1996 under a federal provision that gives preference to businesses owned by minorities and women. When Naseef divorced, he had to buy his wife's share and then seek another minority partner to fulfill the federal requirement.

The lawsuit alleges roadblocks were put into place that eventually forced him out of business.

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