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London Casino Let High-Roller Gamblers Racially Abuse Croupiers, Former Employee Tells Tribunal

  • Former Aspinalls worker Tesfagiorgis gave evidence Thursday to a London employment tribunal
  • She accused the casino of “gaslighting” and making excuses for racially discriminating patrons?
  • Tesfagiorgis said it failed to act on abuse and segregated black staff from players on request
  • Various casinos have faced claims of racial discrimination in the past, including Crown Melbourne
Employment tribunal document
A Mayfair casino that caters to millionaire gamblers has allowed its patrons to racially abuse croupiers, according to a former staff member’s comments to an employment tribunal. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Tesfagiorgis reveals all

A luxury casino in Mayfair, London allowed its high-roller millionaire clients to racially abuse staff, according to claims made to an employment tribunal this week.

Semhar Tesfagiorgis, a former worker of Crown London Aspinalls casino, addressed the tribunal on Thursday. Her representative law firm, Cole Khan Solicitors LLP, tweeted about the case later that day:

Tesfagiorgis claimed that various casino patrons used racial slurs towards her and black colleagues without impunity. These included the terms “stupid black girl”, “blackie”, and the N-word. Not only did the casino fail to bar patrons who used such language, but Tesfagiorgis also alleged that it segregated black staff from players who made specific requests for white dealers.

“stupid black girl”, “blackie”, and the N-word

The former employee said that efforts to report any racism or sexism proved fruitless. “My experience has continuously been one of gaslighting and excuses made on behalf of the patrons in an attempt to dumb down their offensive and unlawful conduct,” she told the tribunal.

A long list of offences

Tesfagiorgis first made her allegations against the Crown Resorts-owned Aspinalls casino last year. As reported by The Times, she filed a claim with the London employment tribunal accusing the members-only club of race and sex discrimination, indirect sex discrimination, harassment, and victimization. Tesfagiorgis gave evidence towards that claim on Thursday.

The first such instance occurred in 2007 when a wealthy player allegedly called Tesfagiorgis and one of her fellow employees, Fiona Esoko, by the N-word. The casino rejected requests to bar the patron and removed both Tesfagiorgis and Esoko from the gaming floor. When the same player returned two years later using the same racist language, the casino again failed to reprimand the patron and replaced the dealer with a white member of staff.

prolonged campaign of discrimination and microaggressions”

Tesfagiorgis also noted more recent cases of discrimination. In 2015, she claimed the casino denied her requests for a shift swap because a patron had asked for “white female dealers only.” Likewise, the casino segregated Tesfagiorgis and another colleague from a gambler in 2019 for the same reason. The applicant described her treatment by the casino as a “prolonged campaign of discrimination and microaggressions.”

In response, Aspinalls argued that it had taken action against the patron mentioned in the 2007 and 2009 incidents, banning the gambler from the casino in 2009. It refuted that the 2015 shift swap denial related to discrimination, instead arguing that the patron preferred dealers “who did not interact with him.” However, the casino confessed that the 2019 incident did take place due to an “error of judgement.”

Other casino racism allegations

This is not the first case in which a casino has stood accused of racial discrimination. A number of gambling venues in other areas of the world have seen similar claims over recent years.

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