Suit raises illegal immigrant rights issue
Attorney says cleaning company shortchanged hundreds of workers

By Michael Mishak

Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.


A workplace lawsuit filed by a group of immigrant laborers against a cleaning contractor popular with posh Strip restaurants is the latest controversy over how third-party operators conduct business in the strictly-regulated atmosphere of casinos.

The workers allege that Bravo Pro Maintenance made them work 13 hours a day, seven days a week, cleaning hip spots such as CatHouse at the Luxor and Trader Vic’s at Planet Hollywood — without breaks and without overtime. They say they were promised $1,300 every two weeks but were paid far less, an average of $4.40 per hour.

The workers’ attorney, Matthew Callister, says the company held its mostly-Mexican workforce in a form of “indentured servitude,â€