The provincial government has released a pair of reports regarding allegations of sexual assault and harassment of staff at the River Rock Casino Resort (RRCR) as well as a series of recommendations aimed at protecting workers.
The province’s gaming enforcement branch launched an investigation in 2017 after receiving reports of incidents in the casino’s VIP gaming rooms, including a 2016 allegation of sexual assault against a casino worker involving a VIP gambler.
The first report, conducted by Paladin Security between November 2017 and April 2018, found that there had been both reported and unreported incidents of sexual assault and harassment along with physical assault at the casino.
The report also found that many staff did not know whether or not incidents had been properly reported to the B.C. Lottery Corporation (BCLC) and alleged that management at River Rock was failing to report assaults on its staff.
The province says as soon as the BCLC became aware of the possible non-reporting of incidents at the casino, it reported the casino to the Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch (GPEB).
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The second report is the GPEB’s own probe into whether Great Canadian Gaming, River Rock’s owners, reported incidents to the branch as required by law.
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It found that all incidents that were required to be reported to police were reported and that there was no evidence of the casino or managers trying to suppress reports.
However, the report also found a “small number” of incidents that weren’t reported to the GPEB, including one case of a gambler allegedly attempting to play “footsie” with a dealer.
“Evidence uncovered over the course of (the) GPEB investigation suggests that errors in incident categorization, lack of training and discretion mistakenly exercised by lower-level managerial staff (i.e. VIP managers/gaming managers) are contributing factors resulting in incidents of non-reporting,” the report found.
Both reports also raised concerns about an apparent culture of preferential treatment for VIP patrons.
“Several RRCR employees expressed that deference was paid by the RRCR to VIP patrons to the detriment of front-line employees, and this deference may have contributed to a culture of non-reporting by front-line gaming workers,” the GPEB report found.
“Employees stated that a formal directive was never provided indicating that preferential treatment must be afforded to VIPs; however, it appears that it has become accepted common knowledge among employees that a different standard of rules are in place in the VIP salons.”
As a result, the GPEB has released eight recommendations aimed at protecting staff.
Those include ensuring casinos are aware of reportable offences, clarifying reporting requirements and additional training for front-line staff.
It also recommends implementing player codes of conduct at all gaming locations in B.C.
In a statement, Terrance Doyle, Great Canadian Gaming’s president of strategic growth and chief compliance officer, said the company remains focused on a healthy and safe workplace for all employees.
“As the Paladin report makes abundantly clear, we have very thoughtful and robust policies and procedures in place to identify, report and address any type of inappropriate behaviour, regardless of the source — whether a gaming patron, visitors to our properties or a staff member,” he said.
“Great Canadian is continuously reviewing and improving its policies and procedures and welcomes GPEB recommendations stemming from the Paladin report, including around additional training for front-line staff, player codes of conduct and incident reporting practices.”
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