In his lawsuit, Edward Parker said that he was effectively fired shortly repaying his nearly $4,000 “debt.”
A Las Vegas bartender who was robbed at gunpoint has filed a lawsuit against his employer, claiming the company forced him to repay all the stolen money.
According to NBC News, Edward Parker was working at the Lodge Hualapai on December 4, 2020, when a gunman walked into the bar and ordered him to “kneel on the ground and put his hands behind his head while the armed assailant took all the money that was at the bar.”
In his lawsuit, Parker details the terror of the encounter, saying he was “terrified during the ordeal and feared for his life.”
While Parker was left uninjured, the robber managed to escape with $3,937.35 in cash.
Shortly afterward, Parker says he was approached by his bosses, who presented him with different options for a “repayment plan.”
Afraid he might lose his job if he refused, Parker signed the document. Since then, he says the bar has taken $300 off each check, clearing his “debt” by June 2021.
Even though Parker complied, he kept working. However, after the stolen amount was repaid, the Lodge Hualapai demoted him to “extra board” status, meaning that he was only used for on-call work.
Since being demoted, Parker says he has never been asked to work at Lodge Hualapai.
The Washington Post notes that Parker may have been terminated because of a scheduling mix-up: he was scolded and demoted only after returning from a scheduled vacation in July 2021.
However, Parker’s legal counsel believes that the Lodge Hualapai was making excuses.
Samuel Mirejovsky, one of Parker’s attorneys, told The Washington Post that their client, too, was “a victim of the robbery.”
Mirejovsky also suggested that—in spite of investigators finding no connection between Parker and the two robbery suspects who were later arrested—the bar may have planned to terminate his employment all along.
“I’m convinced they meant to terminate him all along but wanted him to repay the money and as soon as he did he was let go,” he said. “It’s not legal, and it’s not right.”
Parker told The Washington Post that he started bartending for Lodge Hualapai in October 2019; he also worked for two other establishments owned by the same parent company.
Parker said he was “extremely happy” with his life in Las Vegas, and that he was making the best money he ever earned.
Since then, Parker has left Nevada and relocated to Massachusetts.
“They robbed me of my dream,” Parker told the Post.
Sources
Las Vegas bartender robbed at gunpoint was forced to repay bosses stolen money, lawsuit says
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