The right move

Harrah's Entertainment, currently seeking regulatory approval of its $17.1 billion sale to a pair of private equity firms, has been sporting enough black eyes lately to embarrass a club fighter.

Since 87 people died in a fire in the former MGM Grand Hotel in 1980, this resort city has put an emphasis on fire codes and fire safety. But not Harrah's, apparently.

First, they were caught renovating entire floors on their Rio hotel without permits or inspections -- and in a manner that didn't meet fire codes. Similar problems then surfaced at Harrah's Las Vegas.

But public confidence in the outfit's concern for guest safety surely hit a new low when carpenter Chuck Gillenwater stepped forward recently to tell the Clark County Fire Department about being ordered to cannibalize fire safety equipment at a third Harrah's property, moving parts from one floor of the Flamingo to get similar equipment working on another floor.

Finally, Wednesday, Harrah's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman did something right. He shut down the subsidiary responsible for such renovation work, terminating 200 workers, including supervisors of the troubled renovations.

The improper renovation "incidents have been the most disturbing issues I have faced in my five years as CEO," Mr. Loveman said in a memo to all employees Wednesday. It's the job of senior management "to ensure that ethical standards are never sacrificed in pursuit of deadlines or profits." The improper work "may have jeopardized our most precious asset," Mr. Loveman wrote, "the confidence and trust of our guests and employees. ... In the future, all renovation work will be conducted by outside contractors."

Good. Fire safety is not a game of three-card monte, where guests should have to guess which fire doors or fire alarms have working parts, with a mystery bonus if fire spreads to your room through holes improperly punched through the firewalls and never properly sealed.

The corporate cauterization may seem severe, but this is where free enterprise is at its strongest. It's called "accountability."

On Friday, the county filed misdemeanor criminal charges in the controversy.

Does anyone wonder when the county will similarly terminate the whole department responsible for the supposed "clean bill of health" given the improper Rio renovations after a once-over last winter, six months after a former worker first blew the whistle?

Don't hold your breath.