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Joint Petition of Boardwalk Regency Corporation v. New Jersey Casino Control Commission6/21/2002
Argued March 20, 2002
Gary DiBartolomeo rose through the ranks of the Atlantic City casino industry to become the president of Caesars Casino on January 4, 2000. He was also a compulsive gambler. By order of February 28, 2001, DiBartolomeo's casino key employee license was revoked by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission (Commission) which found him unqualified because he failed to establish his "good character, honesty[,] integrity and financial responsibility." On the same date, the Commission entered an order invalidating the terms of a proposed severance agreement between Caesars and DiBartolomeo. In this appeal, DiBartolomeo argues that the Commission did not have the authority to review the severance agreement, and that even if it did, its actions improperly interfered with DiBartolomeo's contract rights. We disagree. We conclude that the Commission has the authority to review and invalidate agreements between casinos and their employees. We also find that the Commission's decision not to approve the proposed severance agreement between DiBartolomeo and Caesars was not arbitrary and was supported by substantial credible evidence in the record. Accordingly, we affirm.
I.
DiBartolomeo had been employed in the Atlantic City gambling industry for almost his entire adult life. He was first licensed by the Commission in June 1979 and began his employment, at age twenty-three, as a craps dealer. From 1979 to 1989, he worked for both Caesars and the Golden Nugget Casino as a dealer and craps supervisor. In 1989 he became the executive host at the Showboat Casino. In 1990 he was employed by the Taj Mahal, first as an executive host, later as regional director of customer development, and from June 1993 to June 1994, as vice-president for customer development. In June 1994 he became assistant vice-president of national marketing for an enterprise known as Caesars World Market Corporation, a licensed junket enterprise. On July 14, 1995 DiBartolomeo was appointed Caesars' vice-president of customer development; he was promoted to president in January 2000.
DiBartolomeo was first granted a casino key employee license in March 1992. See N.J.S.A. 5:12-89a. He applied for renewal of his key license in September 1993, in connection with his position at the Taj Mahal. In a report dated August 23, 1994, the State of New Jersey, Division of Gaming Enforcement (Division), recommended that his key license not be renewed because he had outstanding gambling debts, had surreptitiously borrowed funds to pay off his losses, and had concealed or misrepresented certain information in his license application. Subsequently, DiBartolomeo reached an agreement with the Division for issuance of the license subject to conditions. In reliance upon this agreement, the Commission found DiBartolomeo qualified, and renewed his key license through March 31, 1997, subject to the following conditions: (1) for the duration of the license term, DiBartolomeo was prohibited from participating in any personal casino gaming activity in any jurisdiction and (2) he was to attend group counseling with a recognized organization, such as Gamblers Anonymous, or attend counseling with a licensed therapist on a weekly basis and provide documentary proof of his attendance on a quarterly basis to the Division and the Commission. In the agreement, DiBartolomeo represented that he had "not gambled and/or incurred any other gambling debts at least since the commencement of this action in March 1994."
On March 18, 1997 the Commission extended the expiration date of DiBartolomeo's license to March 31, 1998. The gambling prohibition condition was extended but the counseling condition was not. He continued
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