Judge Finds Issues With Manager’s `Go Back to Lebanon’ Discrimination Suit

A judge has ruled that a former Bicycle Casino manager’s age and national origin discrimination suit in which he alleges he was wrongfully terminated from the Bell Gardens poker club because he was in his 60s needs shoring up.

Plaintiff George Rahme, now 65, alleges that a club CEO once told him, “Go back to Lebanon.” During a Friday hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Lipner denied a motion by defense lawyers to dismiss Rahme’s lawsuit. However, the judge said the complaint needs more facts to back up Rahme’s causes of action for breach of an express oral contract and of an implied-in-fact contract not to terminate except for cause, negligent hiring, retention and supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Rahme was hired as a manager in April 1985 and the Bicycle Casino was acquired by Parkwest Casinos in May 2022. In their court papers arguing in favor of dismissal, Parkwest attorneys contended the new owners were not liable for any of Rahme’s allegations.

“Because plaintiff’s causes of action are dependent upon the existence of an employment relationship with Parkwest which simply did not exist … plaintiff cannot state cognizable causes of action against Parkwest related to any workplace harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation he purportedly experienced,” the defense lawyers stated in their pleadings.

According to the suit brought in July 2023, a CEO before the Parkwest acquisition made discriminatory and harassing comments about Rahme’s preference for wearing a tie and button-up shirt, saying “You look like you just woke up,” as well as comments about the plaintiff’s weight and bald head.

The same CEO did not make similar remarks to younger workers, according to the suit.

The CEO also often told Rahme, “You should retire” and “You are getting old,” “Go back to Lebanon” and “I will make you a bus driver and send you back to Lebanon,” while comparing Arabs to camels and making fun of the plaintiff’s accent, the suit states.

But in his ruling, the judge found that although the remarks state a possible claim for harassment, they are not severe enough as currently stated in the lawsuit to constitute intentional infliction of emotional distress. Lipner gave Rahme’s attorneys 20 days to file an amended complaint and he also ordered them to make the plaintiff available for a deposition by defense attorneys before March 3.

In 2021, a new CEO arrived and Rahme soon learned the CEO did not like him, leaving the plaintiff “shocked” given Rahme’s “exemplary work ethic during his decades-long employment,” the suit states.

Rahme was pressured to resign in January 2022 by being offered severance pay, but he initially declined, the suit states. Rahme said two months later he would consider taking the severance pay, but was told it would be at a reduced amount, the suit states.

In April 2022, the new CEO allegedly told Rahme during a meeting that the plaintiff was “not a good fit for the new team” being put together, so Rahme asked for a demotion to shift manager to try and save his job. However, Rahme was terminated anyway without being given any severance pay, the suit states.