Operator News
UK – Aspinall’s facing tribunal over alleged racism by VIP customers
By Phil - 8 July 2020
Aspinall’s is facing claims in a London employment tribunal that it allowed racist behaviour by VIP high rollers to go unpunished at its Mayfair casino.
Croupier Semhar Tesfagiorgis, 40, has filed a claim accusing Crown London Aspinall’s of racial and sexual discrimination.
The Eritrean mother-of-two, claimed her experiences are ‘all too familiar to people of my background’ and said there was an ‘industry-wide problem’ of racism at London’s high-end casinos.
She claims that a Turkish club member racially abused another black employee in her presence in 2007, but that managers refused to ban him from the casino. She also claimed that high-rollers frequently requested ‘white, whiter or lighter-skinned’ croupiers and that black croupiers were removed from tables per their requests.
Ms Tesfagiorgis said: “Over the years I have tried to reason with management on many occasions and have had no success.”
Shazia Khan, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, which is representing Ms Tesfagiorgis, said: “The treatment has directly impacted on my client’s health and well-being.”
Aspinall’s, owned by Australian operator Crown Resorts, said: “As the matter is the subject of legal proceedings, we will not be commenting.”
