Sign company to pay $200,000 in wrongful termination judgment

Firing an employee who rented out a company's graveyard of casino signs for a Penthouse video has cost the Las Vegas firm nearly $200,000.

That is what a District Court jury decided Young Electric Sign Co. must pay for the wrongful termination of its onetime marketing executive Tom Romeo in 1994.

Romeo had authorized the two-hour swimsuit shoot that led to a nude video session that was watched by many of the sign company's employees.

Monday's award, however, was only half of what was sought from the jury in District Judge Mark Gibbons' courtroom.

Romeo has claimed the video originally was supposed to involve women in swimsuits. His attorneys argued, however, that even if nudity were involved, YESCo had no policy against it. In fact, in the early 1990s, a Playboy Playmate of the Year video involving native Nevadan Corrina Harney was shot in the graveyard.

The rental fee collected by YESCo for the two-hour session that eventually became the Penthouse Swimsuit No. 2 video was a mere $300.

The $400,000 that had been sought by Romeo was because he said he was instrumental in selling the city of Las Vegas and downtown casinos on the Fremont Street Experience light show that was installed by YESCo.

That amount, he contended, would have been his commission but he was fired just before the deal was set.

Romeo now works for YESCo's competitor AdArt.

archive