Las Vegas, NV (Vocus/PRWEB) March 01, 2011
A lawsuit has been filed in United States District Court, District Court of Nevada (Case 2:11-cv-00286) alleging ladies as young as 19 are recruited by The Light Group to work at Las Vegas nightclubs and plied with alcohol and cocaine. According to the lawsuit, as soon as they turn 21, they begin work, while the consumption of alcohol and cocaine continues on a nightly basis.
The lawsuit has been filed by attorneys Albert G. Marquis of Marquis Aurbach Coffing and Michael J. Amador on behalf of their client, Jane Doe, whose identity is withheld due to privacy concerns and fear of retaliation, for subjecting plaintiff to a hostile work environment promoting the illegal use of cocaine, dangerous alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other unlawful employment practices.
Six witnesses - employees and former employees of The Light Group - have come forward to corroborate the statements of Jane Doe.
The plaintiff was only 19 years old on a summer break from college when she was hired as a hostess at the Fix restaurant at the Bellagio, which is part of The Light Group. Almost immediately, she was “groomed” by the defendants to work at one of their nightclubs. According to the lawsuit, her introduction, even though she was underage, was a visit with management to a nightclub where they introduced her to cocaine and alcohol. This discovery was to determine if she had the right “party girl” persona.
According to the factual allegations common to all causes of action, the plaintiff got caught up in the company’s business plan that exploits young women. Plaintiff said, “They control all aspects of your life and there’s a sexual undertone to everything. I was groomed on cocaine.” She said they had her sign a pre-employment drug test document while imparting to her that she would never be subjected to a test and she wasn’t.
The Light Group’s “appearance criteria” of being pretty, skinny and dressing in an alluring and provocative manner pressured the plaintiff into losing weight and even obtaining breast implants. The motivation for the female employees is to get the better shifts and desirable sections for making more money.
The plaintiff began working at Bare in the Mirage when she was 21 and transferred to the Jet nightclub six months later in the same resort. The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff was victimized, harassed, intimidated, screamed at, degraded, overworked and demoralized by the owners and management. She was emotionally drained, had become dependent on drugs, and witnessed a fellow worker overdose on the drugs and die.
The Light Group’s “marketing program” trained the plaintiff and her co-workers to be sexually provocative, to drink shots with customers at the tables, to engage in inappropriate sexual conduct, and to “hang out” even on their days off. Some of the girls are routinely flown to Beverly Hills and Dubai where they are expected to engage in sexual relations with wealthy customers.
The plaintiff became concerned for her well being and was worried about dying. After a five-day stint not sleeping, constantly working and not eating, management’s solution to her emotional decline, that obviously necessitated medical attention, was to put her in a taxi cab for home and suspend her from work.
Three hours later she had overdosed and was found face down and unconscious in a park. Her life was saved after a hospital visit, five days in a detox center and an additional five weeks of rehabilitation. When the family sought reimbursement for the medical bills, The Light Group refused, which resulted in the lawsuit.
The plaintiff and her family hope that this lawsuit will help to save other young ladies lives that are under the influence of The Light Group’s illegal and immoral business practices.
The full complaint is attached. Owners and management named in the lawsuit are: Andrew Sasson, Andy Masi, Dan Diagostino, Phil Licada and James Scott.
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