ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

October 03, 2011

VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more

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IN BUSINESS COURTS SIEGFRIED & ROY WIN ROUND IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUIT By Steve Green senior staff writer Siegfried & Roy have won a $37,415 court award against attorneys who have been suing Roy Horn over sexual harassment allegations. U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt ordered attorneys for Oliver Preiss, a former personal assistant to Roy Horn, and for Preiss' wife, Beatrice, to pay the $37,415 as a sanction for asserting baseless legal claims against Horn and a company owned by the entertainers. Preiss made headlines last year with sensational allegations that while working for Horn, he was subjected to sexual overtures by both Siegfried Fischbacher and Horn; that they maintained a "very sexualized home'' and that he was fired by Horn after rejecting Horn's sexual advances. The case was later moved to federal court. Preiss was described in the litigation HORN as a married heterosexual physical therapist who had been hired to assist Horn with such basic needs as grooming and getting dressed. Horn needed assistance after suffering disabling injuries when he was attacked by a tiger during a 2003 show at the Mirage. In responding to the lawsuit, attorneys for Siegfried and Roy described Preiss' lawsuit as a legal shakedown. "Mr. Preiss took advantage of Relax and enjoy the season's festivities Origin India will achieve your holiday event vision with Las Vegas' best Indian cuisine and an unparalleled dining experience for you and your guests. BOOK YOUR COMPANY HOLIDAY PARTY BY NOV. 25 & RECEIVE To Book: 702-327-5074 or desiree@OriginIndiaRestaurant.com t 15% off otal food bill 4480 Paradise Road, #1200 | Across from the Hard Rock Hotel 702.73-INDIA (4-6342) | www.originindiarestaurant.com Need Some Advice? Ask an Expert. Taking business to a new level with innovative advertising and marketing solutions. VINCE DUROCHER Account Manager 702.990.2534 vince@vegasinc.com Ask me how your company can gain a competitive edge. Roy's trust, his age and his medical condition in a scheme to extract from Roy the fruits of his successful show. Specifically, as alleged in the complaint, Mr. Preiss somehow obtained so-called 'surveillance videos' of supposed sexual conduct that took place in the privacy of Roy's home. When these purported 'surveillance' videos failed to produce a monetary payoff, Mr. Preiss resorted to a different strategy: He claimed (for the first time) that the purported conduct that took place in Roy's own home somehow created a hostile 'work environment' because that was where Mr. Preiss worked,'' Horn's attorneys wrote in a motion for dismissal. They also said Preiss' attorneys had "made this litigation as expensive and as publicly embarrassing as possible'' for Siegfried and Roy. They said the attorneys initially demanded $500,000 from Horn personally, and when he refused to pay, threatened to initiate a criminal investigation. They also "released surreptitious video recordings of Roy to the National Enquirer, and later posted a hidden camera recording of a conversation between Roy, Mr. Preiss, and a third party'' on YouTube, attorneys for the performers said. They said Preiss' lawsuit was deficient www.VEGASinc.com 14 because Preiss said under oath that he had quit, as opposed to being fired; that he falsely claimed to be working for a Siegfried and Roy company called S&R Production Co. when in fact he worked for Horn personally; and that Horn was not subject to harassment claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 since Horn is not a company. After Preiss' attorneys voluntarily dismissed parts of the lawsuit, Hunt on March 17 dismissed the entire lawsuit. It was refiled in the state court. While the case was in federal court, Hunt this week ruled, "Plaintiffs wasted this court's and defendants' time and resources by challenging defendants' motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs' claims were not simply without merit, but blatantly and undeniably so.'' Hunt said a claim by Beatrice Preiss that she suffered emotional distress was "absurd.'' Oliver Preiss at some point had shown his wife a video of activities at the Horn home. To say she was emotionally shocked and harmed by Horn by her viewing the video was "ridiculous and nonsensical'' under the law, Hunt ruled. By arguing Preiss worked for S&R Production Co., the plaintiffs "needlessly, unreasonably, and vexatiously multiplied the proceedings in bad faith,'' Hunt ruled. Hunt ordered them to pay the attorney's fees to the Siegfried and Roy company and to Horn as a sanction. The attorneys for Preiss, however, received a break when Hunt reduced Siegfried and Roy's attorney's fees request from $109,000 to $37,415. The state lawsuit, in the meantime, remains active with attorneys for Siegfried and Roy hitting Preiss and others with a counterclaim Aug. 8. That claim says Preiss moved to Las Vegas in 2008 to run a tour business, German Las Vegas Service, catering to German tourists. The claim says Preiss had targeted Siegfried and Roy in hopes they would "adopt'' him, and after working his way into their lives, he convinced Horn he was a skilled therapist whose treatments could alleviate Horn's ailments. "However, Preiss was not a skilled therapist and he lacked any of the requisite licensing from the state of Nevada,'' the counterclaim charges, adding Preiss gained Horn's confidence and then performed unconventional and dangerous treatments on Horn. Charging he "swindled'' Siegfried and Roy with "quack remedies,'' the counterclaim says "Preiss resorted to sexual advances in a bid to increase his influence over Siegfried and Roy." He then started secretly videotaping Horn in violation of a confidentiality agreement and then had his attorney demand the $500,000 to resolve his hostile work environment claim confidentially, the counterclaim says. In moving to dismiss the counterclaim SEE SEXUAL HARASSMENT PAGE 15 | 3 OCTOBER 2011 |

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