Employees at Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen + Bar at Live! Casino in Westmoreland County are planning to hold a rally outside the casino Monday afternoon to protest “pay discrimination, harassment and retaliation complaints.”
In a statement from organizers, they said that this protest comes “after a number of workers … complained about labor violations that management has failed to address.”
On March 4, employees sent a petition to management that had over 3,000 signatures on it, asking for the company to raise the wages of Black workers, implement mandatory racial sensitivity and equity training and issue a public acknowledgement and review of the working conditions at the restaurant, which is just east of Greensburg in Hempfield.
In the statement, organizers said that a disparity between white and Black workers’ wages was found after an employee had filed a grievance over a manager using the N-word while telling an employee to turn music off.
That manager no longer works for the restaurant or the casino, the casino’s public relations manager Doug Haniford said.
“That particular incident was addressed,” he said.
The petition is asking that management raise the wages of Black workers at the restaurant, including five months of back pay.
“Although Black workers at Guy Fieri’s Kitchen + Bar Westmoreland have more professional experience, they are being paid lower wages than their white counterparts,” it read.
