Woman Sues Casino

1. LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A $10 million claim was filed Thursday against the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula on behalf of a woman who alleges she was raped by an employee during her March stay.
2. The slot machine at the Resorts World Casino allegedly offered the major payout because of a glitch. Click here to read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news.
3. Woman who ‘won’ £34MILLION on New York slot machine sues casino after they offered her £1.76 and a steak dinner instead Katrina Bookman, from New York, even took a selfie with the machine as.
4. The Queens woman who was offered a steak dinner after staff said her $43 million win at a slot machine was the result of a glitch is suing the casino for the entire jackpot.

1. Woman Sues Casino For Jackpot
2. Woman Sues Casino 43 Million Slot Malfunction
3. Woman Sues Casino Malfunction

JAMAICA, Queens (WPVI) - A woman in New York is suing a Queens casino for $43 million dollars after they say a slot machine manfunctioned and showed her she won a multi million dollar payoff.

Arelia Margarita Taveras, former NJ lawyer, is suing the Atlantic City casinos for $20 million, claiming the casinos failed to notice her gambling addiction. The former lawyer has filed a $20 million racketeering lawsuit in federal court against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas, claiming they had a duty to notice her compulsive gambling problem and cut her off, a lawsuit considered by experts to be a long shot.

According to reports, Arelia Margarita Taveras began visiting the Atlantic City casinos as a form of relaxation and entertainment, which soon turned into a full-force gambling addiction. She claims that she lost over $1 million since the beginning of her gambling habit and lost her law practice, her apartment, her parents' home, plus she says she owes the IRS $58,000. Arelia Margarita Taveras also admits she dipped into her clients accounts to fund her gambling problem, which led to her disbarment last year and faces criminal charges stemming from the embezzlement. The casinos she names in her lawsuit are Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Tropicana Casino Resort, the Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally's Atlantic City, as well as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Last month, a judge dismissed the Trump casinos, the Tropicana, Showboat and Bally's from the lawsuit on technical grounds, but allowed Taveras to re-file the suit against them by April.

'They knew I was going for days without eating or sleeping. I would pass out at the tables. They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five straight days without sleeping,' Arelia Margarita Taveras was quoted. A sad story which could only serve as a reminder to the millions of gamblers worldwide that gambling is fun when only in moderation.

Published on 03/09/2008

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An elderly Lehigh Valley woman attacked at Wind Creek Bethlehem casino and then kidnapped was offered a free dinner as a remedy for the horrific incident, according to a civil lawsuit filed this week in Northampton County Court.

The 85-year-old Palmer Township woman and her husband are now suing the casino, alleging the casino had known security deficiencies before her December 2019 attack, and was negligent in protecting vulnerable elderly customers.

Wind Creek does not comment on pending litigation; however, it worked closely with local law enforcement throughout this process, casino spokeswoman Julia Corwin said.

The couple’s attorney said there is some troubling history of previous incidents at the South Bethlehem casino that attorneys will delve into as part of the suit.

Meanwhile, the victim “continues to be affected by this every day,” said attorney John Pinto, with VSCP Law in Philadelphia.

The victim still lives in fear, rarely leaves her house and has flashbacks of the attack, the suit says. She sought therapy and counseling for her mental and psychological distress.

The couple is seeking more than $50,000 in damages from the suit.

Hykeem Sessoms, of Bethlehem, was sentenced last month to 12 to 24 years in state prison after pleading guilt to robbery and kidnapping in the case.

On Dec. 11, 2019, the victim went to Wind Creek Bethlehem for senior day, where senior citizens are entered into a raffle to receive $500 of free slots play, prosecutors said. The woman, who was 84 years old at the time, parked in the casino’s parking garage.

That afternoon, the victim played the slot machines and won a “nominal” sum of money, according to her suit.

When she went to cash out, Sessoms started “stalking” the victim, including standing behind her as she collected her winnings and then following her as she walked out to the third floor of the parking garage, according to police and the lawsuit.

In the garage, Sessoms “violently accosted and attacked” the woman, telling her he had a gun, demanding money and then kicking her when she refused, the lawsuit says.

Sessoms jumped in the backseat of her car and told the victim to drive out of the garage.

The suit claims a Wind Creek employee witnessed or overheard the attack, but did nothing to stop it, and the victim was allowed to drive out of the garage without any intervention from Wind Creek security or staff.

During the drive, Sessoms threatened to kill the woman and repeatedly hit her while continuing to demand her money, prosecutors said. The woman says she pleaded for her life before Sessoms told her to stop, grabbed seven $1 bills and fled.

Woman Sues Casino For Jackpot

The manhunt for Sessoms led to lock-ins and dismissal delays at Bethlehem schools before he was taken into custody.

Wind Creek and its representatives “merely offered (the woman) a free dinner as a proposed remedy,” the suit says.

Pinto said he reached out to the casino before filing the lawsuit, but did not receive any response.

“It has been a life-changing event for her,” he said of his client.

The events from that day occurred in part because of Wind Creek’s negligence and recklessness, the suit claims.

Woman Sues Casino 43 Million Slot Malfunction

The casino specifically targeted elderly customers for senior day, but failed to take steps and develop safety plans to protect the vulnerable customers, according to the lawsuit.

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Woman Sues Casino Malfunction

Sarah Cassi may be reached atscassi@lehighvalleylive.com.

Woman Sues Casino