Two prominent Las Vegas Strip establishments, Aria Resort and Casino and Luxor Resort and Casino, have resolved disputes with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after investigators identified reasonable grounds to believe the resorts breached civil rights regulations by not allowing religious exemptions concerning COVID-19 vaccination mandates.

The EEOC revealed in a statement on Thursday that the allegations asserted that staff members at both resorts were refused religious accommodations related to the company’s vaccine protocols. After thorough investigation, the EEOC concluded that there was sufficient reason to suspect that the policies at both locations contravened Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The EEOC announced that the issues were settled through conciliation agreements, with both Aria and Luxor agreeing to undertake corrective measures without accepting liability. Although the financial specifics of the agreements were not made public, both properties pledged to provide training for their human resources teams focused on the religious accommodation provisions of Title VII.

“We applaud the Aria and the Luxor for implementing training initiatives that will create a lasting effect on employees seeking religious accommodations in the workplace,” stated Michael Mendoza, director of the EEOC’s Las Vegas office.

Luxor Resort and Casino

It’s imperative for all employers to recognize that federal law mandates reasonable religious accommodations, unless fulfilling such an accommodation would impose an undue hardship significantly impacting the employer’s overall operations.

The EEOC indicated that it will oversee the implementation of these agreements to ensure compliance with the policies. Both resorts are owned by MGM Resorts International, yet they operate under separate licenses.

This agreement follows shortly after another Strip venue, The Venetian, settled a lawsuit concerning religious discrimination filed by the EEOC last month. In that instance, The Venetian consented to pay $850,000 and amend its policies following allegations that it failed to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs in relation to its COVID-19 vaccine regulations.