Legal Issues Besiege Twin River — Separate Federal and State Investigations Hit Company
GoLocalProv News Team
Legal Issues Besiege Twin River — Separate Federal and State Investigations Hit Company
All of this is occurring as the company is trying to expand in Rhode Island and has purchased two casinos from gambling rival Eldorado Resorts — one in Missouri and one located in Mississippi.
In Rhode Island, Twin River Worldwide Holdings is trying to unravel IGT’s newly announced agreement with the state to extend the management of the state’s lottery infrastructure. IGT as part of the extension of its agreement with the state has committed to preserving 1,100 tech, management, manufacturing, and call center jobs. The company employs more than 11,000 globally.
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In June, the Rhode Island State Police, with subpoenas in hand, raided Twin River Casino.
Working with the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, the State Police executed state court-ordered search warrants.
The execution of these warrants was part of an active and ongoing criminal investigation and no other information was provided at the time by the Attorney General's office.
Twin River's spokeswoman Patti Doyle said in a statement at the time of the raid, "We are cooperating fully with the RI State Police on this matter. We believe the focus is on activities of one of our tenants.”
But, nearly simultaneous to the State Police raid, GoLocal learned that top Twin River executive Mike Barlow was suddenly no longer actively working for the company.
The Vice President for Operations was removed from the company’s website and a woman at Twin River’s corporate headquarters told GoLocal that he was not available and she did not know if he was returning.
First reported by WJAR-10, Rhode Island, along with Stonington, Connecticut police raided Barlow’s home in mid-June.
A number of law enforcement officials tell GoLocal that this state investigation has been in development for a significant period of time.
“My shift ends at 2 or 3 in the morning. I can’t be walking through the parking lots alone at that hour with what’s been going on. We need to know what areas are most unsafe and why, and then we need to do something," said Gloria Fitzpatrick, a Validator and Union Business Manager
The NLRB charged Twin River on July 1, 2019.
“Criminals at the casino don’t ask for Twin River ID’ before they commit a crime. We’ve had assaults, firearm threats, vandalism and theft in the parking lots and even on the casino floor. There have been dozens of incidents over the past three years. It’s time for Twin River to take employee and guest safety seriously,” said Mutuel Clerk and Union President Joe Marciano.
According to the Union, on March 21, 2019, they requested a list of break-ins, assaults, burglaries and other criminal conduct occurring over the past three years at the Lincoln casino, including the nature and specific location of each incident.
The Union sought the information during contract negotiations to evaluate worker safety at the sprawling facility and adjacent parking lots.
According to Union, Twin River has acknowledged numerous incidents but is refusing to provide any details, except when the incidents involve employees.
NLRB also charges that Twin River refuses to provide communications with the Union pension plan or details about whether it has received counterfeit tickets or money, even though employees can be disciplined over such incidents.
Twin River spokeswoman Doyle said in a statement, "We are in the midst of union negotiations so we are not surprised by the timing of this accusation. That said, should any investigation by the National Labor Relations Board occur, we will cooperate fully.”
“…we believe the NLRB issue is simply a negotiation tactic as we are actively involved in some union contract talks. To also reiterate, if there is an actual NLRB investigation, we will cooperate fully. We are certainly doing just that with the State Police on the issue you referenced, but as you correctly note, the investigation is ongoing and there are simply no conclusions that may be drawn with respect to the company employee,” said Doyle.
When asked if the federal lawsuit settlement and payment coupled with the multiple agency investigations raised questions about Twin River’s ability to meet compliance standards, Twin River stated that the company’s expansion demonstrated its strength.
“A more complete and fact-based example of the strength of our management team can be gleaned from this morning’s announcement. We announced our recent agreement to acquire two properties from Eldorado Resorts in Kansas City and Mississippi,” said Doyle.
“It is the most recent illustration of the efficacy of this management team to diversify the company’s portfolio to remain competitive in this increasingly challenging gaming marketplace. That commitment and market diversification ultimately inures to the benefit of our 2500 employees in R.I., and nearly 4500 nationwide,” added Doyle.
On Thursday, Twin River Worldwide Holdings, formally announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire the operations and real estate of Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri ("Isle Kansas City") and Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg in Vicksburg, Mississippi ("Lady Luck Vicksburg") from Eldorado Resorts, Inc. for $230 million.