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Culinary Union urges Nevada regulators to review Durango GM’s past role in alleged decertification effort
Summary
At the commission’s Dec. 18 meeting, Culinary Union representatives urged scrutiny of Durango Casino & Resort general manager David Horne after documents and texts raised questions about his role in a 2020 decertification effort at Palace Station, and urged the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s standards be enforced if federal findings substantiate unlawful activity.
At the Nevada Gaming Commission’s Dec. 18 meeting, Ira Duyannen of the Culinary Union told commissioners he had contacted the Nevada Gaming Control Board about David Horne’s licensing history and outlined documentary evidence and text messages tied to a 2020 decertification effort at Palace Station. “If GM Horne were directed to assist Station Casinos in violating federal labor law … we assume you would have a serious problem with that,” Duyannen said.
Duyannen told the commission the union learned Horne was first registered in June 2006 and that the Nevada Gaming Commission in February 2024 approved his application as a key employee at Durango. He described a sequence of communications and a corporate human resources document he said referred to an “underground certification strategy,” and cited a text message in which Horne allegedly wrote “I got the certification of the union completed.”
A second public speaker, Thomas Principe, identified himself as a part‑time bellman represented by the Culinary Union and described reduced hours and pay at current Station Casinos properties compared with prior unionized positions at the Mirage. Principe said experienced union contracts provided “transparency and, most importantly, respect” that was lacking in his current work.
Commissioners did not take immediate enforcement action during the meeting. Duyannen urged that, should the National Labor Relations Board conclude a wrongdoing, the Gaming Control Board should hold licensed executives accountable and “have zero tolerance for underground strategies that undermine the stability of the industry.”
The commission’s public‑comment rules, read at the start of the meeting, note that matters raised during public comment generally cannot be acted upon immediately but will be part of the record. The Culinary Union’s statements and the documents it referenced would be evidence for any subsequent board or staff follow‑up, and any formal regulatory review would be conducted under the Gaming Control Board’s procedures and relevant state statutes.
The commission moved on to its scheduled licensing and regulatory business after closing public comment; no vote or referral specific to the Duyannen remarks was recorded on Dec. 18.
