{"id":203918,"date":"2022-03-04T10:51:59","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=203918"},"modified":"2022-03-04T14:43:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T22:43:32","slug":"harrahs-joliet-fatal-stabbling-judge-wont-toss-5m-claim-vs-caesars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/harrahs-joliet-fatal-stabbling-judge-wont-toss-5m-claim-vs-caesars\/","title":{"rendered":"Harrah’s Joliet Fatal Stabbing: Judge Won\u2019t Toss $6M Negligence Claim Vs. Caesars"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fianc\u00e9e of a Wisconsin man brutally stabbed to death<\/a> by a stranger at the Harrah\u2019s Joliet Hotel & Casino in Joliet, Ill. can sue the casino\u2019s owner, Caesars Entertainment, for negligence, a federal judge has ruled.<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Drifter Robert Watson, above, unleashed a frenzied knife attack on a stranger at the Harrah\u2019s Joliet. But did the casino fail in its duty of care to protect its patrons? (Image: Patch.com<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Wednesday, US District Judge Manish Shah rejected Caesars\u2019 motion to dismiss the $6 million lawsuit<\/a>. The plaintiff, Denise Dixon, sued the casino operator in February 2021 over the death of her partner Emanuel \u201cSam\u201d Burgarino, 12 months earlier.<\/p>\n

Burgarino, 76, was stabbed 26 times and robbed in a shocking attack that took place in a hallway on the hotel\u2019s fifth floor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The perpetrator, Robert Watson, a transient with a history of violence, is said by his lawyers to be suffering from schizophrenia. They claim he was mentally incompetent at the time of the killing.<\/p>\n

Watson was arrested the next day in the Joliet Public Library, just two blocks from the casino. Police found Burgarino\u2019s bloodstained cash in his backpack.<\/p>\n

\u2018Duty of Care Exists\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dixon argued in her lawsuit that Caesars had a duty of care to protect guests from Watson. Lawyers for Caesars argued that, in this case, no such duty of care existed because Watson\u2019s attack was not \u201creasonably foreseeable.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the judge disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is reasonably foreseeable that hotel guests will occasionally be at risk of third-party assaults in hotels,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAnd the complaint plausibly alleges that this attack was reasonably foreseeable.<\/p>\n

Watson suspiciously lurked and stalked patrons on Harrah\u2019s property for hours\u2014in plain view of hotel staff\u2014without checking in, gambling, or buying anything,” Dixon continued. “Harrah\u2019s cameras repeatedly recorded him doing so, and Harrah\u2019s did nothing to investigate his presence or prevent the attack on Burgarino.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The judge emphasized that this doesn\u2019t mean Caesars breached its duty of care, or that negligence has been proven. Merely that such a duty existed.<\/p>\n

No Malice from Casino<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The judge did grant Caesars\u2019 motion to dismiss the plaintiff\u2019s claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.<\/p>\n

According to Dixon, the basis for this complaint was that Harrah\u2019s employees neglected to inform her about her fianc\u00e9\u2019s assault and stopped her from proceeding to the fifth floor when she discovered something was wrong.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After Burgarino\u2019s death, they asked Dixon to pay her room bill, did not offer her sympathy, and did not escort her all the way to her car when she left. Afterward, they continued to send her personalized ads asking her to come back to stay at the hotel.<\/p>\n

None of these actions were extreme or exceeded the bounds of decency,\u201d Shah wrote. \u201cThe complaint alleges insensitivity at most; it does not allege the kind of outrageous or atrocious conduct necessary to state a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cLimiting access to a crime scene was a legitimate objective, and the failure to reach out to Dixon immediately or give her support was not abusive,\u201d he added. \u201cNothing about the allegations suggests that the hotel was trying to insult Dixon or inflict emotional harm upon her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fianc\u00e9e of a Wisconsin man brutally stabbed to death by a stranger at the Harrah\u2019s Joliet Hotel & Casino in Joliet, Ill. can sue the casino\u2019s owner, Caesars Entertainment, for negligence, a federal judge has ruled. On Wednesday, US District Judge Manish Shah rejected Caesars\u2019 motion to dismiss the $6 million lawsuit. The plaintiff, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":203921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHarrah's Joliet Fatal Stabbling: Judge Won\u2019t Toss $5M Claim Vs. Caesars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Negligence claim against Harrah\u2019s Joliet can proceed, Judge says. 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Emanuel Burgarino was stabbed to death by Robert Watson at casino.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/harrahs-joliet-fatal-stabbling-judge-wont-toss-5m-claim-vs-caesars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-04T18:51:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-04T22:43:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/watson.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"674\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/harrahs-joliet-fatal-stabbling-judge-wont-toss-5m-claim-vs-caesars\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/harrahs-joliet-fatal-stabbling-judge-wont-toss-5m-claim-vs-caesars\/\",\"name\":\"Harrah's Joliet Fatal Stabbling: Judge Won\u2019t Toss $5M Claim Vs. 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