Federal agency says downtown Las Vegas casino discriminated Jewish employee

A downtown Las Vegas hotel-casino is being accused of religious discrimination by a federal government agency after a former employee was allegedly sent home and later fired for refusing to remove a religious headscarf.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Circa Resort & Casino, alleging the downtown property failed to accommodate a cashier’s religious practice and ultimately fired her. The employee, who is Messianic Jewish, wore a headscarf as part of her faith and was allegedly sent home without pay after refusing to remove it, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Nevada.

Circa has not yet responded to a request for comment.

According to court documents, a Circa manager ordered the cage cashier to remove the headscarf and sent her home without pay after she refused.

The EEOC alleges the casino’s human resources manager then required the employee to provide a letter from clergy validating her religious practice. The employee told human resources she could not provide the letter because she did not belong to a synagogue, according to the lawsuit.

The federal government alleges that the employee was not permitted to return to work and was fired in July 2024.

The EEOC said it attempted to resolve the matter with Circa through its administrative conciliation process before filing the lawsuit.

The agency said the employee’s treatment violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination and generally requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees’ religious practices unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

“Federal law applies to all aspects of an individual’s religious observance, practice and belief, and employers must make reasonable efforts to accommodate employees,” Michael Mendoza, director of the EEOC’s Las Vegas local office, said in a press release.

The lawsuit seeks relief for the employee, including monetary damages and other remedies.