Strip restaurant employees failed to perform lifesaving acts, lawsuit claims
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a Strip property for allegedly failing to perform lifesaving intervention on a patron after suffering a medical emergency inside one of its restaurants.
Filed against the Aria and Javier’s, a high-end Mexican restaurant on Sept. 18 in the Clark County District Court, the lawsuit alleges Michael Edward Heslin suffered a medical emergency inside of the restaurant, on June 25, 2024. The staff failed to perform lifesaving intervention — even at one point, interferring with someone performing CPR, according to the lawsuit.
He died on July 2, 2024. A cause of death is not listed in the lawsuit.
“Michael’s death was an avoidable tragedy,” said the lawsuit. “Defendant’s failures, individually and cumulatively, proximately caused or substantially contributed to Michael’s preventable death.”
MGM Resorts International, which operates Aria, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nicolas Wilson, Heslin’s spouse, is suing on five counts of wrongful death; loss of consortium; negligence; negligent hiring, retention, training and supervision; and gross negligence.
Lawsuit details
On June 25, 2024, Heslin was a patron of Javier’s at the Aria and was dining with two friends, states the lawsuit. While seating, he collapsed and Heslin’s friends started immediately yelling for help and moved the table back to place him on the floor.
According to the lawsuit, for the next several minutes multiple Javier’s employees “approached the scene of the incident and saw Michael exhibiting obvious signs of a medical emergency,” but did not take any lifesaving action, like performing CPR or retrieving an automated external defibrillator, or AED.
A “female person” started performing CPR on Heslin, but an employee “forcefully interfered” and “preventing her from continuing compressions on Michael and interrupting this lifesaving measure,” said the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims an AED was never retrieved, although believed to be available on-site.
Heslin’s friends were then “forcefully removed” from Javier’s, the lawsuit claims. Furthermore, the lawsuit states employees “threatened to arrest and/or trespass” Heslin’s friends and anyone who was providing lifesaving intervention.
Heslin’s friends attempted to record the incident, but were confronted by employees who “demanded” any videos be deleted, alleges the lawsuit.
Heslin died, according to the lawsuit, as “a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ acts and omissions.”
Wilson is asking for general and special damages in an amount in excess of $15,000; funeral expenses; loss of consortium in excess of $15,000; punitive damages; reasonable attorney’s fees and costs; interest; and such other relief as the court deems just and proper.
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.