By SEAN WHALEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision on Thursday that tip sharing by casino dealers with employees of higher rank is permitted under state law.

The decision reversed a lower court ruling that found that a policy implemented by casino developer Steve Wynn requiring hundreds of dealers to share tips with supervisors did not comply with Nevada law.

Clark County District Court Judge Kenneth Cory ruled in 2011 that Michael Tanchek, Nevada’s labor commissioner at the time, erred last year when he found the Wynn tip-pooling policy did not violate state law.

The decision, written by Justice Michael Douglas, sends the case back to district court to review the Labor Commissioner’s decision regarding the validity of Wynn’s tip-pooling policy.

Cory set aside the labor commissioner’s decision, finding it violated state law because it directly benefitted the Wynn Casino.

“We hold that the district court erred in overturning the labor commissioner’s decision because the Wynn did not keep any of the tips from the pool; rather, the Wynn distributed the money among its employees,” Douglas wrote.

Nevada law prohibits an employer from taking and keeping an employee’s tips, but it does not prohibit a tip policy that splits the tips among employees, the court said. As a result, Cory should not have rejected the labor commissioner decision, it said.

Because Cory found that the tip sharing policy violated state law, he did not address other issues raised by dealers Daniel Baldonado, Joseph Cesarz and Quyngoc Tang.

The Supreme Court ordered the other issued to be reviewed by the lower court.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Follow him on Twitter @seanw801.

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