For the last decade, Wynn Resorts has used a tip-pooling program at their Las Vegas properties. Back in February, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of San Francisco decided to reverse a ruling of the lower court, doing away with the pooling of dealer tips, the money no longer being distributed among the other employees of the venue. The three-judge panel ruling was reviewed by the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas and will remain the same.

The Wynn Las Vegas filed a petition on the ruling, asking to see a rehearing in the appeals court or by a full court. This request was denied late last week. Gregory Kamer is the attorney representing Wynn, who commented that in the United States, the 9th Circuit Court is the most reversed federal circuit court and Wynn is disappointed in the decision. Kamer feels that Wynn will be successful in gaining an appeal within the U.S. Supreme Court.

Leon Greenberg is the attorney representing close to 650 dealers who work with Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, who stated that the high court only reviews a small percentage of cases that come before the court. Greenberg stated that they are looking forward to getting some remedy for the dealers. The dealers filed the suit to try and eliminate the program which took the tips earned by the dealers and shared the amount with the supervisors of the table games.

Greenberg further stated that the dealers are owned money based on the tip amounts taken from them in the past. In the 9th Circuit, Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the majority, stating that the program at Wynn appeared to be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and should be heard on the District Court level.