Pride and prejudice: Darian Isaac and his co-workers believe MGM's diversity initiative is being undermined by lower management

Darian Isaac says he misses Australia. That's where he lived for more than three years in Sydney, where he met his wife. His last job in Sydney, before he returned to the United States in 1999, was working in the juvenile justice system.

What is it that he misses about Australia?

Respect, he says.

It wasn't until he returned to his native North Carolina that he was reminded of all that he'd left behind.

"I had a neighbor down there who hangs a Confederate flag on his house," Isaac said. "He broke into my house, shot my dog. But whenever I go home, I speak to him."

In the fall of 1999, a job transfer with the Men's Wearhouse brought Isaac, his wife and their two children to Las Vegas.

In May 2000, he left his assistant manager's job and went to work at the MGM Grand hotel-casino as a limousine driver. He had previous experience driving limousines and figured the pay with tips would be better for him and his family.

It wasn't long, though, before Isaac says the climate at the MGM Grand turned sour.

Isaac claims at least two supervisors of the MGM Grand's transportation department used racial epithets against him. One of those managers, Dan Hoffman, now works as a chief deputy for the Clark County Recorder's Office. The other, Phil Limina, is a dispatcher for the limousine drivers at the MGM. He's also a cousin of Kim Cimini, vice president of hotel operations.

Isaac is involved in a class action lawsuit against MGM Mirage, filed on behalf of the local chapter of the National Action Network. Like many of the dozens of other plaintiffs involved in the suit, he claims he's a victim of racial discrimination.

Last month, Isaac filed a second complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this time accusing MGM of retaliation.

Why is a 40-year-old father of two going up against the state's largest employer and one of the biggest gaming companies in the world?

"I've been called a nigger one time too many," he said.

On July 25, in the lobby of the Grant Sawyer Government Building, Rev. Al Sharpton appeared before the cameras and, once again, accused the MGM Mirage of discriminating against minority contractors. Sharpton's last visit to Las Vegas was in February, when he led a demonstration outside the MGM Grand. The protesters charged MGM with discriminating against black workers and black-owned businesses.

This time, Sharpton's news conference at the Grant Sawyer building happened on the same day the Nevada Gaming Commission approved the MGM Grand's private gaming license.

"We appeal to the gaming commission to investigate the MGM Grand's record on diversity," Sharpton said, addressing the small crowd of reporters in the lobby. "How far have they come along in the last six months? Instead, it's the arrogance of looking at what we can do for high rollers.

"The MGM has dealt a bad hand of craps to the black community."

Sharpton was joined by Gene Collins, president of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Action Network. The network is a national civil rights' organization founded by Sharpton. The Las Vegas chapter opened in 2001.

Sharpton and Collins have been critical of the MGM Grand's diversity record ever since the hotel-casino announced its $6.4 billion merger with Mirage Resorts in May 2000.

MGM Mirage implemented its diversity initiative following criticism of its minority business practices shortly after the merger.

Both Sharpton and Collins' reputations as black leaders are rife with controversy. In 2001, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People suspended the Las Vegas branch after Collins, then president, was reprimanded for his heavy-handed demands of the MGM Mirage and its alleged diversity shortcomings.

Sharpton's characterization in the media ranges from a shameless huckster to "a racial ambulance chaser" (courtesy of New York Post columnist Jack Newfield). Others view Sharpton as the continuation of the legacy left behi

nd by Martin Luther King Jr.

Because of his polemic effect, when Sharpton talks, people listen. When Sharpton butts heads with the MGM Mirage, however, he appears more like a pesky fly on the lion's nose. While his presence is acknowledged, it's the lion's nature to rule the jungle according to its own rules.

In February, MGM Mirage Chairman Terry Lanni addressed a gathering of vendors, contractors and casino executives at what was billed as the company's first annual diversity report luncheon. In his speech, Lanni praised MGM's diversity push, while admitting the road ahead would be long and arduous. While about $24.3 million was spent last year on minority-owned businesses that provided goods and services to the MGM Mirage, he said: "There are no quick fixes and no magic remedies to address these issues.

"As a company, as a community and as a nation we have a long way to go."

At the time, supporters of the MGM Mirage - such as Urban Chamber of Commerce President Louis Overstreet - argued that the casino giant is one of the few which has openly embraced diversity in the workplace.

Others derided the luncheon as merely a ploy the MGM was using to direct attention away from its alleged racial discrimination.

Surprisingly, Isaac falls into the former group. He says MGM's brass is, in fact, doing its best to promote a discrimination-free work environment. The problem, according to him, lies in lower management.

"I don't think the entire MGM Mirage is a racist company," he said. "But I do know there are some people there who think less of me because I'm black."

Isaac and other limousine drivers claim they heard a fellow employee repeat a racial epithet linked to Dan Hoffman when Hoffman worked at the MGM Grand last year as a lead driver. According to the drivers who spoke to CityLife, they heard the employee tell them that Hoffman said, in reference to Isaac: "If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to get that nigger."

This same employee later reported the incident to Mayra Ocampo, former program director for the local chapter of the Interfaith Council for Worker Justice.

Ocampo says Isaac is the only MGM Grand employee who ever filed a complaint with her during the year she worked at the council.

Isaac also reported this incident to the local NAN offices. In that report, Isaac wrote that fellow limousine driver Faris Wassif was the employee who said he'd heard Hoffman call Isaac a "nigger."

Wassif told CityLife he had no comment regarding the incident.

Furthermore, Mitch Kunkel, another MGM limousine driver, says he heard Limina call Isaac "a lazy porch monkey" early last year.

"I thought it was in bad taste, but I didn't know Darian at the time," Kunkel said.

It wasn't until later, when he heard Wassif telling Isaac about the alleged Hoffman slur, that Kunkel says he decided to speak out against Limina.

"When I put those two comments together, I realized then that these people were out to get Darian because of his race," Kunkel said.

On March 25, Isaac filed battery charges against Limina. Isaac alleges Limina used "unwanted physical contact" during a work-related incident.

In a written voluntary statement turned into the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Isaac said he found out from Kunkel that Limina, who remains a dispatcher in the MGM Grand's transportation department, called him a lazy porch monkey.

Also in his Metro statement, Isaac wrote that Limina, in the past, has told other drivers that "there is nothing anybody can do to him" because he's related to Cimini.

Isaac says he reported both instances to MGM Grand management. MGM Grand also has a copy of the police report he filed against Limina, he says.

Isaac never pressed official charges against Limina.

MGM declined to comment on whether Hoffman or Limina were ever reprimanded or disciplined for making their alleged racial slurs.

Hoffman left the MGM Grand last year to take a position with the county. He didn't return repeated phone calls from CityLife. Attempts to reach Hoffman through a county spokesperson were also unsuccessf

ul.

An attempt to reach Limina was thwarted by Rich Lamperti, front services manager at the MGM Grand, who told CityLife all media inquiries had to go through the hotel-casino's public relations department.

On July 18, CityLife faxed a letter to the MGM Grand detailing Isaac's allegations of racial discrimination and retaliation. Alan Feldman, senior vice president of public affairs, responded in kind, saying: "As with any major initiative from a large company, there will be bumps along the way. Allegations of misconduct and/or violations of policy will exist.

"In every case, we investigate thoroughly such charges and proscribe appropriate disciplinary action. It is, obviously, inappropriate to discuss details of any one such event, as it would violate the privacy of those concerned."

Feldman also outlined what he described as the company's "progress" in its diversity initiative. For example, MGM Mirage launched the industry's first website specifically dedicated to minority vendors and contractors, according to Feldman.

Also, Feldman named some minority business contractors whom he says have benefited from their relationship with the MGM Grand. Ron Fernandez, according to Feldman, was awarded a $2 million contract to provide soap and shampoo to most of the MGM's properties.

In the construction division, Al Barber is listed as a minority business owner whom Feldman says is authorized to work on a project for MGM worth $650,000.

"Al believes his capacity will grow to $2 million," Feldman wrote.

Barber says his experience with the MGM Mirage has been a windfall for his construction business.

"I can't speak for other minority business owners, but my perspective has been that when you're playing with the MGM, you have to stay at the table," said Barber, who is black. "Once you're committed to the process there are opportunities available."

Barber says he expects to make as much as $3 million by the end of the year, when he's completed a renovation project for the MGM Mirage.

"... Consider how well the dialogue has progressed and how far we've come in only a few short months," Feldman continued in his letter. "We are all too well aware that there will be some who will stay focused on how far we have yet to go.

"While our company has, on occasion, been singled out, the fact remains that this is an issue much larger than any one company and, in fact, far eclipses our industry reaching into every corner of the greater Las Vegas Valley."

Michael Robertson worked at the MGM Grand as a late-shift limousine supervisor for eight years, until April 2000, when he said he was fired without ever being given a reason.

"It must have had something to do with my skin color," Robertson said, adding that he fell out of favor with the rest of the management team when another supervisor, still employed at the MGM, started spreading lies about him.

Robertson uses no uncertain terms when asked to describe this supervisor, calling the man "a racist."

Like Isaac, Robertson is black. The two also share an opinion of the MGM's upper echelon.

"It's important you don't call the whole company racist," Robertson said. "That would be a lie."

"I don't believe that MGM is a racist organization," he added in a written statement. "These problems are isolated to individuals who are still living in the dark ages. The people that run the MGM are good people. Anytime you have an organization this size, there are going to be mistakes made."

Robertson, like Isaac, says any racial discrimination occurring within MGM Grand is happening at the level of lower management.

"The transportation department is insulated from the rest of the hotel," Robertson said.

Robertson says his record while working at the MGM "speaks for itself." The performance of the transportation department under his watch was regarded by upper management as "immaculate," he said.

Robertson says he explained to MGM brass that the supervisor was a "pathological liar" who was trying to get him fired because he was black.

Evidently his words were wasted. After eight years of

service at the MGM Grand, Robertson says the limo company he worked for reassigned him to another Strip property not owned by MGM Mirage.

When on July 19 Lanni addressed the Latin Chamber of Commerce concerning MGM Mirage's progress on diversity, he echoed the refrain he'd made five months earlier. He told the Latin contingent that his company's progress toward embracing minority-owned businesses and vendors is notable, although more work needed to be done.

Lanni told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month that MGM Mirage is committed to spending more money on minority-owned businesses. According to the article, the percentage of minority MGM Mirage workers at the manager-and-above level increased from 24 percent two years ago to 26.5 percent last year.

A diversity yardstick is that a company's management should reflect the community it's based in. According to the 2000 Census, Clark County's population is 28.4 percent minority. Lanni said in the R-J article that the percentage of minority MGM Mirage workers now at the manager-and-above level is 28.5 percent

Furthermore, he said many minority-owned businesses are small and, therefore, need help in learning to deal with big companies such as MGM Mirage.

He wasn't kidding.

B. Kim Thomas is a consultant to Lambert Davis Jr., owner of To The Bay and Back Gourmet Cheesecake Company based in Sacramento. Davis, who is black, plans on suing MGM Mirage on the basis of breach of contract.

According to Thomas, who is also black, he flew into Las Vegas in October 2000 to meet with MGM buyers Tricia Taylor and Margie Jones regarding his client's gourmet cheesecakes. After several members of upper management, including former MGM Grand pastry chef Leroy King, sampled the cheesecakes, Thomas said he was presented a vendor's agreement.

"Everybody at the MGM loved these cheesecakes," he said.

Thomas faxed the agreement to Davis for him to sign. According to Thomas, a series of trips to the MGM Grand ensued, during which he received first-class treatment as he continued pushing his client's cheesecakes.

Between October 2000 and December 2000, Thomas says he visited the MGM Grand at least three times. He says management afforded him VIP accommodations.

Thomas claims MGM brass was so enamored with the cheesecakes, they requested the desserts be served at the hotel-casino's Christmas party.

"We provided all the cheesecakes for the party, about $2,500 worth," he said. "We flew them in from California. Everybody told us how great they were."

Thomas says the MGM has yet to pay for the cheesecakes he delivered to the Christmas party.

And that's not all.

On March 14, 2001, Thomas says he received an e-mail from Rick Jones, MGM Grand's vice president of corporate purchasing. In the e-mail, according to Thomas, Jones wrote that To The Bay and Back's cheesecakes did not meet the hotel's standards, thereby rescinding the vendor's agreement.

Speaking from his office in Fresno, Calif., Morris Jennings, Thomas' attorney, says that discrimination played a part in MGM's reversal on its dealings with the black-owned cheesecake company; however, he plans on suing the hotel-casino on the grounds of breach of contract.

And while there was never an actual business contract - only an agreement - signed by the two parties, Jennings says "a unilateral contract" can come into legal effect based on the behavior of the parties.

"MGM solicited my client for several thousand dollars worth of goods," said Jennings. "They courted my client over the course of several months. Then, six months later, some person squashes the deal, just like that."

Jennings says he'll give MGM a chance to settle the case out of court.

Joining Sharpton at last month's news conference was local businessman George Roy, owner of Golden Eagle Gaming Supplies. Like the other African-American business owners who have complained to the Las Vegas National Action Network, Roy alleges that the MGM Grand did not honor the contract they awarded him last year.

Roy claims he was awarded a $160,000 contract for supplying blackjack ta

bles to various MGM properties. Seven months into the contract, however, Roy says he's only sold about $3,000 in goods.

The contract expires in about five months, but Roy says he doesn't expect to do anymore business with the MGM Grand.

"I've been turned away, ignored or just treated like dirt for trying to honor the contract MGM awarded me," he said. "I counted on them to honor their part of the deal, now my business has been set back substantially."

Roy says he can only assume racial discrimination played a part in the alleged mistreatment he received from the MGM Mirage.

Feldman explained in the fax: "We had a long way to go in the areas of purchasing and contracting but here, too, we have made substantial progress and, based on what we already know of the first six months, we look forward to announcing exciting results at the end of the year."

Roy says he's been asked to meet with Sharpton and attorney Johnnie Cochran in the next two weeks to discuss his allegations against the MGM Mirage.

Steven Miranda is a limousine driver at the MGM Grand. He supports Isaac's charges of discrimination and retaliation, saying Isaac has made himself a "target" almost from the first day he started working at the hotel.

"Ever since I've worked with Darian, he's one of these guys who speaks up whenever he sees something going down that's not right," he said.

But Miranda says the problems in the MGM Grand's transportation department are less about race and have more to do with workers in general being mistreated by middle management.

The conflict all started on July 13, 2001, says Miranda, when the drivers elected to unionize their department.

"From that day forward, [MGM management] has made our lives miserable," he said.

A few weeks before the union vote, Miranda says a mandatory meeting notice was posted on the department's bulletin board. When the drivers arrived for the meeting, they were met by an "angry" Bill Hornbuckle, then MGM Grand's hotel president.

According to Miranda, Hornbuckle fumed at the drivers for attempting to unionize the transportation department. In essence, Hornbuckle told the drivers a union would never be allowed in the department.

Another worker who attended the meeting claims Hornbuckle's harangue of the drivers ended with him saying that the only reason the MGM Grand allowed the Culinary union to form was so the company could consummate the deal with its Detroit casino.

In November, about 14 current and former black workers sued the MGM Grand Detroit Casino alleging racial discrimination.

Hornbuckle is now executive vice president of marketing for MGM Mirage. More than a year after the drivers voted to unionize, their negotiations with MGM Grand management are still ongoing.

"This isn't so much a minority issue," said Miranda, who is Hispanic. "It's the way MGM treats its employees in general.

"It's hard for them to keep people because of all the harassment that goes on."

Darian Isaac is awaiting word from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as it continues its investigation of the MGM Grand and his charges of retaliation. Should the EEOC grant Isaac a letter of right to sue, it would be the second notice of this kind he's received from the commission in less than a year. But Isaac says he's not a troublemaker, nor is he litigious by nature.

He says it's simply a matter of pride.

"I'm not giving people permission anymore to walk all over me," said Isaac, who plans to move his family back to Australia.

He jotted down the following item from the MGM Grand's rules and regulations handbook, found among the many notes he's kept since working at the hotel:

"We have an obligation to challenge authority. Ask questions. Play the protagonist. It's the only way we will remain true to the best interests of our company and our guests."

David Hare is CityLife's staff writer. He can be reached at 702-871-6780 ext. 396 or dhare@lvpress.com.