A judge has ruled that Resorts World Las Vegas broke the law by firing its master cook after he filed complaints about health code violations.
The ruling, delivered by the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, determined that Resorts World’s reason for firing Brian Satake was questionable. The casino claimed Satake was let go for placing bacon in a cardboard box rather than a metal pan, an action that violated health and safety rules.
Satake claimed that he wasn’t the person who put the bacon in the cardboard box
However, Administrative Law Judge Andrew Gollin said that this reason, for which he was let go in April 2023, was not legitimate. Satake claimed that he wasn’t the person who put the bacon in the cardboard box. As reported in the ruling, asked if he thought he was set up, the former Resorts World cook said: “yes, but he could not prove it.”
Satake was fired just days after he filed a number of complaints with his employer. In March 2023, the master cook raised several complaints regarding the conditions of the kitchen in which he worked. This included “potential health code violations,” according to the ruling. In his testimony, Executive Chef Niko Gadzhev said simply that Satake “complained too much,” and would “complain to everybody.”
The Judge ruled that Resorts World must “cease and desist” in unfair labor practices. Satake must also be offered his former position, or an equivalent, and Resorts World must “make him whole for any loss of earnings and other benefits he may have suffered because of discrimination.” Resorts World must also pay him for any losses because of search for interim employment, or tax losses incurred in receiving lump sum backpay.
