Jul 23rd, 2003, 01:01 PM
Bronze Medal?! How about $875,000... WTFF?
Troy woman gets $875,000 in casino case
She found token, tried to play slots, but got kicked out
July 23, 2003
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A 74-year-old Troy woman won a $875,000 jackpot Tuesday, but not at the casino.
A federal jury in Detroit awarded the money to Estella Romanski in the form of punitive damages for the humiliation she suffered in 2001 when she was banished from the MotorCity Casino in Detroit after she tried to play a nickel token she found at an unattended slot machine.
"I'm overwhelmed and I'm happy it's over," Romanski said after the eight-member jury announced its decision following a one-week trial and two days of deliberations.
Romanski -- and jurors -- said they wanted to send a message to the casino to stop mistreating patrons.
"We hope they fix things and stop using gestapo tactics," one juror remarked on his way out of the courthouse. The juror, who identified himself as a 44-year-old Wayne County businessman, said some jurors wanted to award Romanski more money.
MotorCity lawyer Robert MacAlpine of Detroit said the casino will decide whether to appeal. He had argued that the incident didn't happen as Romanski described it.
The controversy involved what is called slot walking, the practice of picking up tokens from unattended slot machines. It is discouraged or prohibited by many casinos, including those in Detroit, though a rule against it is generally not posted.
Romanski, a retiree, said the incident happened shortly after noon on Aug. 7, 2001, after she took a chartered bus trip with other seniors to the casino.
After playing the nickel slots, Romanski said, she spotted a nickel token in the tray of an unattended machine and tried to play it.
But before she could do so, she said, she was surrounded by security officers who held her against her will, demanded to see her identification, questioned and photographed her and then evicted her from the casino. She said they also confiscated her $9 meal ticket as well as the nickel token, and wouldn't let her rejoin her group.
She said she spent several hours waiting for her group, some of it on a hot sidewalk.
Security officers said they treated her professionally and that Romanski was removed after becoming belligerent. They said she was allowed to wait in an air-conditioned valet parking area.
Romanski's lawyers, Neil Fink and David McNeill of Birmingham, said they were satisfied.
"It's a secret policy," McNeill said. "They only reveal it to the patrons after they've arrested them." He said the rule needs to be posted.
|
@ Zhukov
Linear Mode
