Security forces, driver sue Las Vegas Sands over pay
Members of the private security force in charge of guarding Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson and his family have filed a federal lawsuit claiming violations of overtime laws.
A second lawsuit has been filed in federal court on behalf of Adelson’s former personal driver against both Adelson and one of his companies, Interface Operations LLC.
The lawsuit by security forces was filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Las Vegas Sands. It says nine “executive protection agents” provided 24-hour security protection for Adelson, his wife and children. The lawsuit claims Las Vegas Sands employed the agents routinely in excess of 40 hours per week and frequently for more than 150 hours per week. The detail often included frequent air travel in the United States and around the world.
“The defendants knowingly and willfully failed to pay the lawfully compelled legal overtime rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay at which plaintiffs were employed” in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the lawsuit claimed.
In the second lawsuit, driver Kwame Luangisa claimed he worked seven days in a week between 12 and 18 hours per day but didn’t receive overtime because he was told he was a supervisory employee. He drove Adelson in Las Vegas and Malibu, Calif., for almost four years.
Luangisa said he resigned on March 25 following a “particularly abusive tirade by Adelson,” and believes he’s owed more than $100,000.
Both lawsuits seek unspecified back pay and damages. They were filed by Las Vegas attorney Don Campbell, who also represents fired Sands Macau executive Steven Jacobs in his wrongful termination lawsuit against Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd.
Sands spokesman Ron Reese said the company doesn’t comment on litigation.