Dealer Hits Joliet Hollywood Casino With Whistleblower Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL - A former supervisor at the Hollywood Casino Joliet has filed a civil lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse accusing her former employer of illegal conduct and retaliating against her.

Count 1 of her Will County civil lawsuit accuses Hollywood Casino Joliet of violating the Illinois Whistleblower Act. Cody Gregory seeks a judgment in her favor in excess of $50,000 as well as "award her sufficient funds to compensate her for her losses, pain and mental suffering, which cannot otherwise be compensated by any equitable relief, award her compensatory and punitive damages ... attorney's fees ... award her such other and further relief as this court deems just and proper."

Hollywood Casino Joliet has yet to file its response to the allegations raised in Cody Gregory's lawsuit. She is being represented by lawyer Ethan White of the Emery Law Firm in Hinsdale.

According to her civil lawsuit, Gregory had worked at Hollywood Casino since April 2011 in a variety roles including as a celebrity dealer. In November 2017, Gregory was working as a craps game dealer when one of the players made what's called a $5 'fire' bet at the craps table. The player included an additional $1 bet for the dealers "as a potential gratuity in the event he won the bet," the lawsuit states.

Sure enough, the craps player won big and that meant "the $1 bet for the dealers was multiplied by one thousand, resulting in a $1,000 gratuity for the dealers," according to Gregory's lawsuit.

But Hollywood Casino chose not to pay Gregory anything, her lawsuit asserts.

"Plaintiff's manager withheld those funds. Plaintiff, concerned for the proper treatment and compensation for the dealers she was working with, advised the manager that he could not withhold that money. The manager refused to distribute that money,"the Hollywood Casino lawsuit states.

According to her lawsuit, Gregory approached the Illinois Gaming Board office at Hollywood Casino during her next break to explain the situation. That office is staffed by Illinois State Police. The woman alleged that her manager "was stealing the dealer's money in violation of Illinois law and the regulations of the Illinois Gaming Board," according her lawsuit.

"The State Police working at the Board told (her) to keep the situation confidential and promised they would investigate," the lawsuit states.

On Nov. 8. 2017, Gregory learned that Hollywood went ahead and paid the respective dealers the $1,000 gratuity, according to the filing.

And also that day, Hollywood representatives notified her she was being suspended "via skip level discipline for an alleged mismarked point," her lawsuit alleges. Her lawyer argues, "Hollywood's proffered reason for the suspension was pretext for the unlawful retaliation for Plaintiff's report to law enforcement ..."

And that's only half of the matter, according to Gregory. There was a second incident of retaliation against her, the second one cost her job, she informed Will County's judicial system.

Barely two months ago, on Nov. 7, 2018, Gregory was working as a supervisor of a craps game. During the game, one of the dealers "marked the wrong point on the craps game after a player roll. In situations of (a) mismarked craps point, Hollywood followed a strict protocol, which was to stop the game and call Hollywood's surveillance department," the lawsuit alleges.

Gregory maintained she followed all the proper rules. However, "Plaintiff's manager, acting in the course of his employment and in retaliation for plaintiff's report of his illegal actions to the Board and law enforcement the prior year, falsely claimed that she did not stop the game, did not contact surveillance and instead colluded with the dealers to continue the game," the lawsuit states.

As a result of that incident, Gregory was fired on Nov. 8, 2018, her lawsuit reveals.

File image John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor