Casino news from http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/
One former surveillance supervisor had his gaming license suspended but another was exonerated Wednesday in a case of video spying at an Atlantic City casino.
In a 4-0 vote, the state Casino Control Commission suspended the license of James Doherty for 20 days for using his security cameras to spy on women at Caesars Atlantic City.
Doherty was present for the vote, but said nothing to the commission and declined to comment afterward. His attorney, Derek G. Timms, said the case had dragged on long enough and Doherty would not appeal the suspension.
“We pursued all avenues that we could have, so it's out of our hands at this point,” Timms said.
At the same time, the commission exonerated another former Caesars surveillance supervisor who had also been accused by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement in the spying case. The commissioners found no evidence that Robert Swan violated any gaming regulations while performing his security duties.
Alan C. Staller, Swan's attorney, complained that the media had “besmirched” Swan's reputation while reporting on the allegations against him and should now be just as eager to publicize the commission's findings.
Doherty and Swan, who were fired by Caesars, stood accused during a six-day Casino Control Commission hearing last year that included the extraordinary public airing of secret surveillance tapes showing close-up shots of women's breasts and buttocks.
Evidence presented by the Division of Gaming Enforcement, which prosecuted the civil case, included 64 minutes of videotape shot by Doherty and another 11 minutes by Swan while both men worked the graveyard shift at Caesars in October 2004.
In sworn testimony, Swan repeatedly denied he had ever spied on women while performing his duties. His videotape included brief sequences in which the cameras focused on the breasts and nametag of a female Caesars employee who was tending bar in the casino.
Swan testified that he did not recognize the bartender and was only trying to verify her identity by shooting close-ups of the nametag on her lapel. He said he was concerned that she may have been a striking worker who slipped into Caesars during a monthlong walkout in 2004 by 10,000 union employees at seven casinos.
Doherty, however, admitted in his sworn testimony that he had occasionally trained his cameras on women to satisfy his curiosity and in one instance watched a cocktail server simply because a fellow surveillance worker “thought she was cute.”
Doherty's tapes included extended footage in which he watched the cocktail server and another woman, a bartender. Both women normally worked in management positions, but chipped in to serve drinks and tend bar when Caesars was left shorthanded by the union strike.
Over a two-day period, Doherty repeatedly observed the bartender, who was wearing a sleeveless, low-cut top. Several times his cameras focused on her breasts and the nametag on her lapel. In his testimony during the hearing, Doherty denied that he was leering at the woman's cleavage, but he did admit to violating regulations governing the use of security cameras.
Hearing officer Michael A. Fedorko, a board member of the Casino Control Commission, recommended the 20-day license suspension for Doherty in an initial ruling in June. Fedorko also ruled that Swan had properly carried out his surveillance duties and should not be punished. The commission's board, with one member absent, ratified Fedorko's recommendations Wednesday.
“I think this sends a message that if this occurs, we will take it very seriously,” Commission Chair Linda M. Kassekert said of the action against Doherty for violating surveillance regulations.
Caesars agreed in September to pay a $185,000 fine to settle the spying case. The casino was also fined $80,000 in December 2004 for similar incidents involving two other male surveillance officers who trained their cameras on women.
Hidden in the ceiling of every Atlantic City casino hotel, the cameras are supposed to be used to monitor the gaming floor and other sensitive areas of the building for cheating, theft and other crimes.
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