International Game Technology is often in the news for one reason or another, but it is usually for something positive. The slot machine maker has all kinds of machines and technologies that we can't even begin to understand, and it seems that we are always hearing about some sort of new thing that they have come up with. However, instead of groundbreaking news regarding something positive, it seems that the slot machine company has actually gotten some negative publicity instead.
The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that James McAndrews can have a trial regarding his allegations that IGT fired him when he blew the whistle on their wrongdoings. McAndrews claimed that IGT had fraudulently concealed sales and use tax money that was owed to the state. He sued in 2003, claiming that the slot machine giant as well as its subsidiaries, owed somewhere in the arena of $50 million in back taxes to the state.
The law states that if he proves his case he gets a percentage of that figure, but the Nevada Supreme Court rejected the suit in 2006. It wasn’t long after that McAndrews found himself on the unemployment line. Then he filed suit claiming that they had fired him because he blew the whistle on them. He wanted back wages, special damages, costs associated with the case and his attorney’s fees.
IGT denied the allegations saying that they only owed him money if he had been pressured into performing the illegal acts, and therefore they owed him nothing. They claim that as it was not McAndrews who was performing the alleged illegal acts, then he was not covered under the Whistleblower Law.
District Judge Connie Steinheimer ruled against IGT, and they appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. They also sided with McAndrews, and gave him the right to have a district court trial in Reno to prove why he was fired. They said that the slot machine company was interpreting the law incorrectly and that all “employees who have acted lawfully” are entitled to protection under the law.
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