{"id":289117,"date":"2023-09-11T12:32:21","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T17:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=289117"},"modified":"2023-09-11T13:01:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T18:01:16","slug":"crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Crown Melbourne VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former waiter at Crown Casino Melbourne\u2019s<\/a> most exclusive VIP room<\/a> is suing operator Crown Resorts<\/a> for negligence. Dien Nguyen, 39, was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer after putting in a six-year shift at Crown\u2019s Mahogany Room.<\/p>\n

\"Crown
Crown Melbourne\u2019s opulent Mahogany Room, above, really did \u201cstink\u201d of cigarettes, until tobacco smoking was phased out around two years ago, according to an insider. (Image: The Age<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nguyen blames his grave medical condition on the tobacco smoke emanating from thousands of cigar-chomping and cigarette-sucking high rollers, reports Melbourne\u2019s Herald-Sun. <\/em><\/p>\n

The state of Victoria banned smoking in indoor public spaces in July 2007. But Crown\u2019s high roller rooms were able to secure a controversial exemption<\/a>. In fact, after 2007, they were the only indoor public places where you could smoke in the state.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All areas at the Crown have been smoke-free for around two years, according to The Herald-Sun.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the Crown work, patrons of the Mahogany Room were permitted to smoke cigarettes and cigars pursuant to an exemption from relevant Victorian anti-smoking laws,\u201d states the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

No Ventilation <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nguyen argues that the Crown was negligent for allowing smoking in the workplace and for failing to test or measure the levels of smoke, to investigate the health risks, or to provide adequate ventilation. The lawsuit claimed that the operator also failed to warn its staff of the risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to 2017, Crown had received complaints and notifications in relation to employees suffering from lung cancer or serious lung diseases which were alleged to have been caused by exposure to cigarette and cigar smoke in the course of their employment in the Mahogany Room,\u201d court documents state.<\/p>\n

Nguyen claims that Crown should have known he was at \u201crisk of developing serious lung disease (including lung cancer and other respiratory diseases of a like nature).\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plaintiff is seeking a trial by jury and wants damages, interests, and costs from the Crown. Nguyen said he was likely to incur or had already incurred medical and nursing expenses and would have to rely on care from his wife in the future.<\/p>\n

Crown declined to comment on ongoing litigation as a matter of policy.<\/p>\n

Insider: ‘It Stinks’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mahogany Room memberships are broken into three categories. In descending order: Black, Platinum, and Gold. To earn Platinum membership, you need to spend A$30K (US$20K) at the casino within six months. Black membership is by invitation only.<\/p>\n

Despite its opulence, a Mahogany Room insider confirmed to News.com.au<\/em> in 2016 that \u201cit does stink.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Every second person is a smoker in there,\u201d<\/strong> said the source, who did not wish to be named. \u201cI think that\u2019s disgraceful. But they pay so much tax that the government comes up with this ridiculous legislation that says smoking is allowed.”<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former waiter at Crown Casino Melbourne\u2019s most exclusive VIP room is suing operator Crown Resorts for negligence. Dien Nguyen, 39, was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer after putting in a six-year shift at Crown\u2019s Mahogany Room. Nguyen blames his grave medical condition on the tobacco smoke emanating from thousands of cigar-chomping and cigarette-sucking high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":289119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,62,60,18],"tags":[85808,84380,87933,82103,87932,82214],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrown VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crown Melbourne\u2019s Mahogany room smoking blamed for waiter Dien Nguyen\u2019s lung cancer diagnosis in negligence lawsuit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crown VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crown Melbourne\u2019s Mahogany room smoking blamed for waiter Dien Nguyen\u2019s lung cancer diagnosis in negligence lawsuit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/\" \/>\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=\"2023-09-11T17:32:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-11T18:01:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\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\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/\",\"name\":\"Crown VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T17:32:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-11T18:01:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Crown Melbourne\u2019s Mahogany room smoking blamed for waiter Dien Nguyen\u2019s lung cancer diagnosis in negligence lawsuit.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":432,\"caption\":\"Crown Melbourne\u2019s opulent Mahogany Room, above, really did \u201cstink\u201d of cigarettes, until tobacco smoking was phased out around two years ago, according to an insider. (Image: The Age)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Crown Melbourne VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Crown VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer","description":"Crown Melbourne\u2019s Mahogany room smoking blamed for waiter Dien Nguyen\u2019s lung cancer diagnosis in negligence lawsuit.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Crown VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer","og_description":"Crown Melbourne\u2019s Mahogany room smoking blamed for waiter Dien Nguyen\u2019s lung cancer diagnosis in negligence lawsuit.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-09-11T17:32:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-11T18:01:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/","name":"Crown VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-11T17:32:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-11T18:01:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Crown Melbourne\u2019s Mahogany room smoking blamed for waiter Dien Nguyen\u2019s lung cancer diagnosis in negligence lawsuit.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mahogany.jpg","width":768,"height":432,"caption":"Crown Melbourne\u2019s opulent Mahogany Room, above, really did \u201cstink\u201d of cigarettes, until tobacco smoking was phased out around two years ago, according to an insider. (Image: The Age)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/crown-vip-mahogany-room-waiter-sues-over-lung-cancer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Crown Melbourne VIP \u2018Mahogany Room\u2019 Waiter Sues Over Lung Cancer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289117"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289117"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289151,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289117\/revisions\/289151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}