Posted on: July 27, 2022, 03:51h.
Last updated on: July 27, 2022, 03:51h.
Caesars Entertainment has been slapped with a $50,000 fine by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) for numerous and repeated regulatory infractions.
The DGE, which regulates the nine casinos in Atlantic City, says the penalty stems from Caesars failing to properly register and license key employees over a period spanning more than a year. DGE Director David Rebuck told the Las Vegas-based casino operator in a letter dated July 7, 2022, that the company’s failure to obtain casino licenses for 49 employees who were required under state law to achieve such permits warrants the punishment.
Caesars self-reported initial regulatory shortcomings in May of 2021. Since then, the casino operator told the state it discovered additional employees who should have been registered with the DGE who were not.
New Jersey’s Casino Control Act requires that certain casino employees become registered with the DGE. The gaming regulator performs background checks and other probes of those individuals to assure that the state gaming industry remains free of bad actors.
Caesars operates three Atlantic City casinos — Caesars, Harrah’s, and Tropicana.
Surprising Shortcomings
Atlantic City casinos have been required to register key employees with the state for as long as gambling has been legal in New Jersey. And that’s why it is quite unexpected that a company as experienced and as large as Caesars Entertainment was found to be uncompliant.
Caesars first notified the DGE on May 3, 2021, that it had realized seven of its information technology (IT) staffers had been on its payroll with inactive casino employee registrations. The company told the gaming agency that it would probe its other departments to assure compliance. But that review turned up dozens of additional employees who were supposed to be DGE-registered but were not.
The DGE initially said it would not penalize Caesars since the company self-reported the regulatory infractions and resolved the matter timely. But after Caesars admitted to additional employee registration failures, Rebuck opted to act.
Caesars provided the Division with multiple reports which revealed further issues regarding the lack of necessary casino employee registrations,” Rebuck explained. “As of November 2021, Caesars appeared to have approximately 49 employees who were not properly credentialed due to either holding no casino employee registrations or holding inactive casino employee registrations.
Caesars told the state that some of the registration failures were because of temporary leaves of absences caused by the pandemic.
Caesars Agrees to Fine
Because Caesars Entertainment had not properly registered its casino workers, the DGE concluded that the company had also violated the state statute requiring each licensed gaming property to submit accurate monthly employee reports.
Rebuck explains that Caesars has agreed to the $50,000 fine for the regulatory inadequacies.
“Caesars has agreed to pay such amount in recognition of the seriousness of its failures related to non-compliance,” Rebuck concluded.
Rebuck finished by explaining that additional Caesars employees discovered to be unregistered would subject the casino company to further monetary penalties.
