I'll have to play more at Caesars AC - surveillance there is busy checking out the hotties...
Regulators fine Caesars again for surveillance's prying eyes
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Updated: Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Fighting back her anger, Theresa Magri shuddered while describing the videotape of her that had been secretly recorded by surveillance workers at Caesars Atlantic City.
Security cameras that were supposed to protect her and everyone else at the casino actually were being used to gawk at female patrons and employees, she discovered.
"They were zooming in down my shirt," said Magri, 40, a former food and beverage shift supervisor at Caesars. "They got as close as they possibly could."
In the second case of its kind at Caesars, the casino agreed Tuesday to pay a $185,000 fine to settle charges that four of its employees spied on women using the "eye in the sky" surveillance cameras that watch over the gaming floor.
"I can't believe Caesars allowed them to do this," Magri said. "They'll do it again and get away with it again."
The state Division of Gaming Enforcement, the casino industry's investigative arm, alleges that surveillance operators ogled women's breasts and other body parts while working the graveyard shift over a three-day period in October 2004.
"(The women) were leered at, stalked and inappropriately viewed by the respondents in this case," said Anthony Zarrillo, a deputy state attorney general who is representing the DGE.
Last December, Caesars was fined $80,000 for similar incidents involving two other surveillance operators who trained their cameras on women's low-cut necklines and other revealing clothing in 2000 and 2001. Caesars fired one of the workers and suspended the other for three days in that case.
In the most recent case of video voyeurism, gaming investigators allege that surveillance supervisors James Doherty and Robert Swan and camera operators Donald Smith and John Paul Arambulo each shot between 11 and 95 minutes of illicit tape. All four men were fired by Caesars.
"Harrah's Entertainment has absolutely zero tolerance for the type of behavior that occurred in October 2004," Caesars' parent company said in a statement.
The statement said Caesars took "prompt appropriate remedial action" in response to the unauthorized taping, but did not describe any specific measures other than to confirm that the surveillance workers were fired.
Swan and Doherty disputed the spying charges during a Casino Control Commission hearing that started Tuesday and is expected to resume sometime next week. Commissioner Michael A. Fedorko, the hearing officer, first must rule whether the videotapes should be made public and whether to allow testimony from alleged victims.
Caesars attorney Lynne Hughes urged Fedorko not to make the tapes public, arguing that their release would invade the privacy of women who were secretly recorded.
John M. Donnelly, Swan's lawyer, expressed concern that the media would show only salacious excerpts of the tapes instead of material that he contended would exonerate his client. Donnelly also sought to prevent Magri and two other alleged victims from testifying.
Zarrillo opposed any attempts to block testimony or keep the tapes from being made public. He said legal sparring over side issues would unnecessarily delay the case and cause more anxiety for the victims.
After Tuesday's hearing, Swan and Doherty declined to comment. Arambulo settled the charges against him by agreeing to a five-day suspension of his gaming license. Smith never responded to the charges and did not take part in the proceedings, according to Zarrillo.
Magri, who left her job at Caesars after the spying incident, said her anxiety over the videotapes was compounded Tuesday by seeing the men who allegedly victimized her.
"I was devastated by the tapes, but I was even more devastated to see the faces behind the cameras," she said in an interview. "When you walk into a casino, you expect good security. You should have responsible people operating those cameras."
Magri was videotaped while supervising workers at the Toga Bar on the casino floor. She said she didn't usually work at the bar, but was filling in for union employees who were walking the picket line during a monthlong strike last year at Caesars and six other casinos.
"I'll never work in a casino again or anywhere else where they have surveillance cameras," she said.
Magri claimed that Caesars risked the safety of its patrons and employees by failing to crack down on the illicit taping. Hidden in the ceilings of every casino hotel, the cameras are supposed to be used to surreptitiously monitor the gaming floor for cheating, theft and other crimes.
"There could have been a murder on the other side of the casino and Caesars wouldn't have known anything about it," Magri said.
Gamblers interviewed Tuesday at Caesars expressed anger that surveillance cameras had been misused and threatened to take their business elsewhere.
"I think they target us," Nardia Sharpe, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y., said of the way security guards allegedly treat young women.
Lisa Robbins, 33, of Philadelphia, said she was terrified that she might be videotaped inappropriately. Her finance, Brian Lidge, 39, characterized the illicit taping as an invasion of privacy.
"From now on, we probably won't come back to this casino," Lidge said.
Regulators fine Caesars again for surveillance's prying eyes
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Updated: Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Fighting back her anger, Theresa Magri shuddered while describing the videotape of her that had been secretly recorded by surveillance workers at Caesars Atlantic City.
Security cameras that were supposed to protect her and everyone else at the casino actually were being used to gawk at female patrons and employees, she discovered.
"They were zooming in down my shirt," said Magri, 40, a former food and beverage shift supervisor at Caesars. "They got as close as they possibly could."
In the second case of its kind at Caesars, the casino agreed Tuesday to pay a $185,000 fine to settle charges that four of its employees spied on women using the "eye in the sky" surveillance cameras that watch over the gaming floor.
"I can't believe Caesars allowed them to do this," Magri said. "They'll do it again and get away with it again."
The state Division of Gaming Enforcement, the casino industry's investigative arm, alleges that surveillance operators ogled women's breasts and other body parts while working the graveyard shift over a three-day period in October 2004.
"(The women) were leered at, stalked and inappropriately viewed by the respondents in this case," said Anthony Zarrillo, a deputy state attorney general who is representing the DGE.
Last December, Caesars was fined $80,000 for similar incidents involving two other surveillance operators who trained their cameras on women's low-cut necklines and other revealing clothing in 2000 and 2001. Caesars fired one of the workers and suspended the other for three days in that case.
In the most recent case of video voyeurism, gaming investigators allege that surveillance supervisors James Doherty and Robert Swan and camera operators Donald Smith and John Paul Arambulo each shot between 11 and 95 minutes of illicit tape. All four men were fired by Caesars.
"Harrah's Entertainment has absolutely zero tolerance for the type of behavior that occurred in October 2004," Caesars' parent company said in a statement.
The statement said Caesars took "prompt appropriate remedial action" in response to the unauthorized taping, but did not describe any specific measures other than to confirm that the surveillance workers were fired.
Swan and Doherty disputed the spying charges during a Casino Control Commission hearing that started Tuesday and is expected to resume sometime next week. Commissioner Michael A. Fedorko, the hearing officer, first must rule whether the videotapes should be made public and whether to allow testimony from alleged victims.
Caesars attorney Lynne Hughes urged Fedorko not to make the tapes public, arguing that their release would invade the privacy of women who were secretly recorded.
John M. Donnelly, Swan's lawyer, expressed concern that the media would show only salacious excerpts of the tapes instead of material that he contended would exonerate his client. Donnelly also sought to prevent Magri and two other alleged victims from testifying.
Zarrillo opposed any attempts to block testimony or keep the tapes from being made public. He said legal sparring over side issues would unnecessarily delay the case and cause more anxiety for the victims.
After Tuesday's hearing, Swan and Doherty declined to comment. Arambulo settled the charges against him by agreeing to a five-day suspension of his gaming license. Smith never responded to the charges and did not take part in the proceedings, according to Zarrillo.
Magri, who left her job at Caesars after the spying incident, said her anxiety over the videotapes was compounded Tuesday by seeing the men who allegedly victimized her.
"I was devastated by the tapes, but I was even more devastated to see the faces behind the cameras," she said in an interview. "When you walk into a casino, you expect good security. You should have responsible people operating those cameras."
Magri was videotaped while supervising workers at the Toga Bar on the casino floor. She said she didn't usually work at the bar, but was filling in for union employees who were walking the picket line during a monthlong strike last year at Caesars and six other casinos.
"I'll never work in a casino again or anywhere else where they have surveillance cameras," she said.
Magri claimed that Caesars risked the safety of its patrons and employees by failing to crack down on the illicit taping. Hidden in the ceilings of every casino hotel, the cameras are supposed to be used to surreptitiously monitor the gaming floor for cheating, theft and other crimes.
"There could have been a murder on the other side of the casino and Caesars wouldn't have known anything about it," Magri said.
Gamblers interviewed Tuesday at Caesars expressed anger that surveillance cameras had been misused and threatened to take their business elsewhere.
"I think they target us," Nardia Sharpe, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y., said of the way security guards allegedly treat young women.
Lisa Robbins, 33, of Philadelphia, said she was terrified that she might be videotaped inappropriately. Her finance, Brian Lidge, 39, characterized the illicit taping as an invasion of privacy.
"From now on, we probably won't come back to this casino," Lidge said.
