Casino workers seek help under plant closing law

About 100 former employees of the Riverboat Hotel and Casino in Reno filed a lawsuit in U.S. District court claiming they deserved 60 days notice before they lost their jobs last year.

They said the owners surprised them with a "mass layoff" when the business closed suddenly on Nov. 30.

The suit says the employees are entitled to wages and compensation they would have received if they had worked 60 days after the first notice they would lose their jobs.

Most of the 375 workers at the 296-room hotel were notified by a note posted on the door the day of the closure.

Riverboat owners had no immediate comment on the lawsuit filed here Thursday. They earlier said they had been negotiating to sell the casino but any potential deals fell through after California voters approved gambling on Indian reservations in November.

"It became evident to us that making it this winter would be real tough," William Douglass, Riverboat co-owner and chairman of the board, said at the time.

Mike Langton, a lawyer representing the workers, said two other Riverboat employees bought a home the day before the closing - unaware that their jobs were in jeopardy.

Another turned down a different job offer in mid-November.

"One of the people bought a car Oct. 15 and withdrew $2,500 from savings and traded in their car. They never would have done this if they had known they were going to be laid off," Langton said.

The lawsuit says the workers should be compensated for salary, medical and vacation benefits they would have received during the additional two months of work.

The Riverboat, damaged by flooding from the Truckee River two years ago, was the sixth casino to close in downtown Reno over the past four years. Last week, the casino's slot machines and other equipment were auctioned off.

Douglass said in November that several investors had expressed interest in the casino but that the approval of reservation gambling in California created "a question mark in the minds of potential investors."

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