Vegas Worker Fired for Saying 'Bye Bye,' Sues for Pregnancy Discrimination
A former employee is suing a luxury Las Vegas hotel because she claims the establishment continually harassed her and then terminated her employment when she was eight months pregnant.
Melodee Megia, 37, who used to be a "room service sales" employee for The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas revealed in the suit was the reason behind her termination which detailed that she told a customer "bye bye" on the telephone instead of "goodbye," according to media reports.
Megia also filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of her other co-workers, whom she claims were shorted on their hourly wages and overtime.
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According to court documents filed with the Clark County District Court in Nevada, Megia worked at the hotel from November 2010 until September 2011, when she claimed that she was fired "based on her pregnancy."
The suit also explains numerous instances of harassment from her boss and other employee's because she was pregnant.
The lawsuit detailed one instance when Megia was asked to bring a care package to a room containing a box of condoms. Stated in the suit, Megia's supervisor said, "Isn't it too late for that? You should have thought about it before getting knocked up."
The suit also added that one day her supervisor told another employee in her presence, "That is what happens when you have sex."
"From that point forward, the director of room service frequently gave [Megia] dirty looks or shook his head disapprovingly," the suit said.
Mark Thierman, one of her attorneys, described the work environment in the gaming industry as the lawless west of old.
"Nevada is a very tough state for service employees. It's the Wild West. Coming from California originally, it was shocking for me," Thierman told ABC.
"Many, if not most, people here work on minimum wage plus tips. Some of the abuses are pretty flagrant," he said.
When asked to comment on the suit Amy Rossetti, public relations director of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, said in a statement, "As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation."
