Discrimination suit against Nevada gaming agency can go forward, attorney says

The attorney for a former Nevada Gaming Control Board department head has filed a motion countering the board’s request to dismiss a racial discrimination lawsuit brought in September.

Reno attorney Mark Mausert’s 24-page response filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on behalf of Jaime Black, who headed the Control Board’s Administration Division since June 2017, said sufficient evidence exists to support claims that board member Brittnie Watkins discriminated against her and that she fostered a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

“The allegations of the complaint provide a sufficient factual and legal basis for each cause of action,” Mausert’s response to the Nevada attorney general’s office, representing the Control Board, says.

“When considering the viability of an individual cause of action, all allegations should be considered in totality and in context — in a common-sense manner,” the response says. “All reasonable inferences should be drawn per this process. When that exercise is applied, this complaint is fairly viewed as a plausible fact pattern or story, supported by credible factual allegations, which invite application of Title VII.”

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects people from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin and applies to employers, employment agencies, labor organizations and training programs.

Black, a Control Board employee since 2014, said in her lawsuit she was pressured by Watkins, who is Black, to engage in discriminatory hiring practices, then fostered a hostile work environment when she resisted.

The attorney general’s office filed its motion to dismiss on Oct. 24.

Representatives of the Control Board had no further comment about the lawsuit or the response in the case being heard by Judge Miranda Du.