Saturday, April 19, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Supreme Court to consider ex-casino worker's sexual discrimination case

WASHINGTON -- Sexual discrimination lawsuits against employers already account for almost a third of the federal court docket, and a Las Vegas case that will be heard Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court may help determine if the trend continues.

The justices will consider accusations by a former Caesars Palace worker who claims she was a victim of sexual discrimination when she was fired in 1994.

Catharina Costa, 48, was hired in 1987 and was the only woman who worked in a warehouse owned by the casino.

"The first couple of years, I didn't have any problems, but being a woman in a man's world is never easy," Costa said. "The last couple of years there were miserable. The guys were all at each other's throats. There were always lots of fights going on. Guys had physical altercations."

It was a fight between Costa and a male co-worker that led to her termination.

Costa claims she was shoved against a wall in an elevator by the man. After reporting the incident to her supervisor, she said, the man assaulted her again. The male co-worker charged Costa started the fight by pushing him.

The male co-worker, who had a relatively clean disciplinary record in 25 years with Caesars Palace, received a five-day suspension. Costa, who had been disciplined several times previously, was fired.

Costa claims her disciplinary record was trumped up as the result of gender discrimination.

"My record was mostly created by (Caesars Palace)," she said. "Everything, including altercations, was stacked against me."

Paul Ades, an attorney for Caesars Palace, said Costa's disciplinary record was accurate.

"There were a number of allegations on her disciplinary record that would have justified her termination if she had been a man or a woman," Ades said.

After a labor arbitrator upheld Costa's firing, she sued Caesars Palace in federal district court in Las Vegas.

In June 1998, the jury ruled in favor of Costa and awarded her damages totaling $364,000, according to her attorney, Robert Peccole. So far, Peccole said, Costa has not received any of that money.

The District Court verdict was reversed by a three-justice panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But then Costa appealed to the entire circuit court panel, which upheld the Las Vegas court's ruling.

The issue before the U.S. Supreme Court will be whether Costa presented sufficient evidence to prove that her gender was a motivating factor in the decision to fire her.

"There's no question in our mind that gender was a motivating factor and the jury agreed with us," Peccole said.

Ades contends Costa did not present sufficient evidence, and the jury should not have been instructed to consider sexual discrimination as a factor.

"The ruling by the 9th Circuit said employers, in discrimination cases, are guilty until proven innocent," Ades said. "That is inconsistent with the law. The burden of proof is on the employee to prove discrimination."

If Costa wins, the surge in sexual discrimination lawsuits against employers is expected to grow even higher, analysts said. But if Caesars Palace prevails, the ability of fired workers to pursue gender discrimination lawsuits against their former employers could be significantly restrained.

"The Supreme Court is well aware of the fact that sexual discrimination cases are swamping the federal courts, and there are members of the court who are not happy about it," said Lawrence Lorber, a Washington, D.C., attorney who has represented business interests in civil rights legislation.

Costa, who is single, said she has been unable to find full-time work since Caesars Palace fired her. She now works sporadically as a subcontractor for conventions in Las Vegas.

"I lost out on a pension, and there are certain times when I don't put in enough hours and have to pay health insurance out of my own pocket," Costa said. "I would have had raises and I think I did miss out by not having a steady job."