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May 3, 2006
IMMIGRATION Hispanic women claim jobs lost after attending Reno rallyBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mirna Miranda of Sparks and Belia Solis of Reno said Peppermill Hotel-Casino supervisors fired them after accusing them of intimidating other Hispanic workers. The two U.S. citizens, who took part in the protest on a day off, denied the allegations. "I was a scapegoat," Solis told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I feel they wanted to use me (because I was) a supervisor." Peppermill officials denied the women were fired for attending the rally, which drew an estimated 5,000 people outside the Reno federal courthouse. But resort officials said labor law prevented them from discussing the reasons for the terminations. "This is America, and we believe in free speech and believe in an individual's right to express his or her opinions," Peppermill spokeswoman Kim Stoll said. "Our longstanding policies ensure consistent and fair treatment of employees. Legally, we cannot speak to why any team members were terminated," Stoll said. Missing a shift without calling ahead is grounds for termination at the Peppermill. But that was not a problem with the rally, said Carol Stewart, the resort's human resources director. "We asked they notify us ahead of time so we had the right guest-service levels and guests didn't suffer for lack of employees," Stewart said. "There were no no-call, no-shows." Solis, who supervised two hotel floors for seven years, was fired April 14, while Miranda, a cook, was dismissed April 20. Solis is challenging her termination through an in-house, board-of-review process. Some Reno casinos report that more than 40 percent of their staffs are Hispanic. Some of the larger resorts make annual trips overseas to recruit for positions they can't fill from the local worker pool. |
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