Low Wage Casino Workers Treated Differently

In the wake of the BP Oil Spill, low wage casino workers were treated differently --

Hood wants casino worker claims need priority
By Jessica Bowman

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) – Emergency claims filed by Mississippi casino workers with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility were arbitrarily and categorically denied according to the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.

Hood said, "It was denied on solely on the basis of these claimants' place of employment."

Hood's office has received several complaints from the casino workers and said, "I appreciate that the GCCF has admitted its mistake in assessing casino worker claims as a whole based solely on reports of overall casino gross revenues, an inaccurate indicator of employee revenues. However, I find it unacceptable that the GCCF has refused to correct the error by re-evaluating these claims on its own initiative without the need for the claimants to submit new claim forms."

Hood is requesting the GCCF to reconsider the handling of casino worker claims and institute a re-evaluation process to restore some amount of fair treatment to this group of oil spill victims.