A Vietnamese woman said she felt humiliated and traumatized after a Nevada casino and its sister affiliate barred her entry in what she considers a racial profiling incident.
On September 4, Tammy Luu, a resident of Taylorsville, Utah, and her husband reportedly drove to West Wendover, Nevada, to watch the Vietnamese variety show “Saigon by Night” at the concert hall of Peppermill Resort and Casino.
Luu and her husband went to the hotel casino after the performance. After showing their IDs, four guards – including the head of security – approached them and said she had been banned from the establishment due to an incident that took place on Aug. 15, according to KSL.
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Despite telling security she hadn’t visited Wendover in several years and suggesting it could be a misidentification case, they insisted she be banned after the head of security checked the surveillance footage.
“He came back and he said, ‘Yes, Asian woman,'” Luu recalled to KSL. “I’m like, ‘Everything matches, like my name and address?’ [He said,] ‘Yes, everything is correct. Asian woman.'”
After asking security how to resolve the issue, they reportedly told her to contact the establishment’s human resources department on September 6.
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After the incident at the Peppermill, Luu said she and her husband checked out of their room and went to the hotel’s sister branch, Montego Bay Resort and Casino, for dinner. However, six guards came up to them and said they were trespassing.
The conflict was eventually resolved after a Montego Bay employee helped through security to ask for more details. Luu was told a mistake had been made and the establishment reinstated her account, gave her an upgraded room, refunded the room charges and gave her and her husband meal cards worth a total of $200.f
Luu filed a complaint with Montego Bay the next day and received a call on September 9 from Peppermill’s assistant director of security informing her of the incident that happened in August.
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According to the assistant director, a group of Samoan women got into an argument in the casino, which resulted in them being banned. A security guard reportedly identified the women as Asian and said they “cleaned the casino.” The deputy director then told Luu that security tried to identify the members of the group, and a pit boss accidentally handed her husband’s player card.
Luu told KSL that the story was not true because her husband’s card has his name, Danh Luu, on it.
“I don’t think they even know the real story. That’s a sad part. So you can’t control anything — no evidence, nothing — but you’re just going to accuse someone?” said Luu.
Her husband was reportedly at the casino on August 15, and he recalled seeing two Asian women at the table he was playing at. However, he could not recall seeing anything that had banned the women from the establishment.
Luu said Michael Heward, the casino’s director of risk management, contacted her and apologized for what had happened. Heward also informed her that the person who had been removed from the casino at the time of the incident had the same name used for Luu’s account. However, Luu noted that her account is in her husband’s name.
“This is traumatizing. I cry every time I think about it,” Luu told KSL. “This is very humiliating and it hurts my self-esteem because I’ve worked so hard and we’ve tried to do a lot of good for the community here. “
With regard to her complaint, the deputy director informed her that several persons had already been reported after the incident.
“I hope others never have to experience what we’ve been through,” Luu, a mother of four, wrote in a statement recent Instagram post. According to her profile, she is also the Vice President of Utah’s Vietnamese American Community.
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A post shared by Tammy Nguyen Luu (@tammyluu801)
Featured image via Thatotherperson (CC BY-SA 3.0)
