Tulalip Casino 
by Blair Jett We all love to be entertained, most of us like to gamble in hopes of hitting that big one. For decades now we`ve always had to go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City if we wanted to experience that thrill. But in the late 1980s that seemed to begin changing when native american indian tribes around the nation began opening casinos as a way of generating revenue for the betterment of their own tribal people. I thought this was a great idea originally. That is until I began observing these operations first hand. What I discovered wasn`t exactly what I was hoping to see. The native americans lost something during the transaction when they traded their beads & feathers for suits & ties. What these tribes have succeeded in doing is creating a set of double standards & even worse, they are promoting racism & prejudice & it`s this type of double standards that is destroying this country. In the late 90s people in the state of California began to take notice of these standards & so voters in that state went to the polls to vote on whether this sort of double standards was constitutional. Well the indians won that showdown when the majority of Californians voted in favor of the tribes. So in 2004, the voters in California decided that if indians can operate casinos, why can`t other races? After all this is a country of equality & freedom, right? Wrong! Voters again got the opportunity to decide on the fate of these tribes, by legalizing gaming establishments to be owned & operated by non tribal organizations. Immediately after the bill was introduced the indians went on the war path & pumped millions of dollars into campaigns to mislead voters into believing that if everyone in the state can own a casino, crime will double. These tribal organizations actually fooled the ignorant voters into believing that if they legalized gaming for everyone, we would see more drugs & prostitution, & a general increase in crime in our communities. They even had the audacity to suggest that our schools & children would be innundated with uncontrollable crime. Shame on them for dragging our children into this mess! What`s even more appalling is that the voters actually fell for that & once again, the red man won the battle. We haven`t seen an increase in crime since native american casinos opened, so who in their right mind would believe that it would increase if other races opened gaming establishments?..... The stupid California voters did, thats who! In the land of equality these tribes began overstepping the boundaries & soon realized that thanks to the indian treaties, they can make their own laws & don`t have to be held accountable & are immune from the same laws that everyone else in this country must be held accountable too. Did you know that these tribal casinos pay no taxes to the states or federal government. Thats right... TAX FREE MONEY! Did you know that tribal members don`t pay income taxes nor Social Security, but they are still entitled to SSI, Social Security, unemployment insurance, disability, & welfare at the expense of the American tax payers? Are you getting angry yet? Even worse, these tribes can discriminate against non tribal people when it comes to employment. The Win River Casino in Redding, California, always post`s this little tidbit at the bottom of their help wanted ads in local newspapers. "Tribal americans are a +" What do you think would happen if I opened a business & put help wanted ads in local newspapers that read "caucasion americans are a plus"? I`ll tell you what would happen, the shit would hit the fan & I would be prosecuted for discrimination! The people would be outraged & I would be persecuted! We`d see huge demonstrations & outraged people marching in the streets! But apparently it`s ok for the Native Americans to do this & no one seems to say a thing about it. My dismay grew even worse when I landed a job at the Tulalip Casino in 2006. This casino is located in Tulalip, Washington, just on the outskirts of the city of Marysville. The insurance was really good, the salary was competitive, the vacation time was excellent. I was happy to land such a great opportunity, but little did I know that my employment with Tulalip Tribes for the next two years was going to open my eyes to just how pathetic an organization they truly are. I got to witness first hand how tribal members get special treatment while the other races took the back seat. I got to see just how incompetant the management at this casino was, from the supervisory level to the CEO level. I hoped that when the red man went into business that they wouldn`t make the same mistakes as the white man. But they ARE doing that...& more. In 2007, about 20 or more non tribal table games dealers at Tulalip were put on notice that the tribe had several native americans in the dealer training program & if they successfully completed the course, the non tribal dealers might have to be laid off in order to make room for them. Many of these non tribal dealers had worked for the company for four years or more. Now let`s go back to my earlier paragraph for a moment. What do you think would happen if this scenario were reversed? If an employer laid off non caucasion employees to make room for new caucasion employees, what do you think would happen? That would be racism & the people would be outraged. I`m seeing an alarming trend in this nation that seems to say that only white people can be racist, but other cultures can do it for the betterment of their people & thats ok. The Tulalip Casino boasts about how they have a great human resources department & employee outreach programs. But Myself & others have found through personal experience that these people in H.R. are incompetant & over paid.
I`m going to share a few personal stories with you here not because I want your pity, but because this is the only way most of you reading this will see the point I`m trying to make. Attendance Policy I worked the overnight shift (midnight to 8 am) and one evening in December 2006 when I went out to get in the car & go to work, it wouldn`t start. I lived about 8 miles away in another town & I could not take a bus because public transportation didn`t run that late at night. A couple weeks later I then received a written warning from an "Attendance Specialist" in H.R. by the name of Heather Rollings & was ordered to attend an attendance class because this was an unexcused absense. In this written warning Heather stated that this absense was unexcused because I failed to get advanced approval from my supervisor. Immediately I responded with a letter to Heather explaining that this warning was unrealistic on the grounds that it was a circumstance beyond my control. I went on to ask what is the official procedure for getting advanced approval for these types of unpredictable circumstances? There is no procedure because no one can get approval for unforseen circumstances, it`s impossible. But I posed that question to Heather hoping that she would see just how rediculous this truly was. I also informed her that I would NOT be attending this mandatory attendance session. Ms. Rollings never responded to my letter. Strangely enough, It snowed a few weeks later & many employees couldn`t make it to work that night. All those employees absences were excused (& many of them didn`t even call in at all to let the casino know) because snow is considered to be circumstances beyond their control. They have an attendence policy there that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If you are going to miss a days work you are required to call in at least 3 hours in advance. If you don`t, it`s considered an unexcused absense. In the spring of 2008 I called in sick one night. Two weeks later I received a written warning once again from Heather Rollings informing me that I had called in two minutes late. My shift started at 12:15 a.m. & according to their records I called in at 9:17 pm, thus meaning I had missed the deadline to call in by 2 minutes. Once again I responded with a letter to Heather informing her that I had actually called in at 9:12 pm, but I was put on hold for a few minutes. So technically I was not late in calling in. Again, I don`t know if Ms. Rollings has writers block or what, but just like last time, I got no response. Common business practice dictates that when someone addresses an issue in writing, it`s essential that you respond to it. It`s your job! That`s what you`re getting paid for! In both instances since I got no response, I naturally assumed that the issue was dismissed, & again I did not attend the mandatory attendance session. Several months later I had called in late because of unforseen circumstances & this time I was suspended. When I got the suspension I discovered that both of the previous incidents that I just spoke of played a key role in my suspension. So apparently putting things in writing will not cover you with these people. I appealled that suspension, but lost. Apparently the tribal court judge (the tribe & the judge get their revenue from the casino) seemed to want to side with the casino, but the fact that I had addressed those issues in writing & that Heather Rollings did not respond, had no relevence in the case. The tribe has an employee by the name of Linda Tolbert. Linda is the employee representative that assists suspended employees appeal their suspension. I`m not sure what the point of her job is though, because she was very little (if any) help at all. Linda told me to bring all my letters & documentation to court with me to help my case. I told her that the casino has all that on file & I would appreciate copies of them, especially the letters that I wrote to Heather Rollings. Linda refused & told me that I must bring my own. I asked why, but she never gave me a straight forward answer. Why is that? If the casino values their employees & has someone like her to assist them with appeals, why won`t they supply all the documentation on file to better assist those employees in getting a fair trial? About a year later I was suspended again, but I got that suspension reversed because Heather Rollings had made an error, but didn`t take the time to make sure she had her facts correct before suspending me. On this suspension Linda Tolbert didn`t even return my calls & I represented myself. The punishments that Tulalip hands down to their employees for attendance violations is 1st Offense -Warning & Attendance Session 2nd offense -1 week suspension (40 hours) without pay 3rd offense -Termination If you`re what they call a "no call no show" the punishment is 1st offense -80 hour (two weeks) suspension 2nd offense -termination Even though these rules are supposed to apply to all employees, my observation has been that if you`re tribal you can get away with murder & still keep your job. In fact during my two years there I met countless tribal employees that had been fired & re-hired as many as four or five times. But I knew of a couple non tribal employees that could not get re-hired after being terminated only once. Sexual Harassment Tulalip Tribes makes their employees attend a mandatory sexual harassment course & you must be certified every year. In this class they teach employees that sexual harassment is an inexcusible offense to which they have zero tolerence. But apparently this doesn`t apply to tribal members, because I recall one incident where a tribal employee had been harassing a female employee numerous times. When this young lady reported this harassment, the accused employee was transfered to another capacity & sources tell me he is still employed there to this very day. Is This My Money Or Yours? Apparently they have also decided that they have the right to play god with your money too. In January of 2007 I noticed that a deduction had been taken from my check for a 401k. But there`s one problem. At no point or time did I ever consent to enrolling in any 401k. So figuring that this was just an honest mistake, I went in to H.R. and spoke to Cathy Langan. Cathy is in charge of handling these programs & I explained to her that I have never enrolled in any 401k plan. She informed me that they recently started an auto enrollment & all employees are enrolled unless they opt out & that notices were sent out in the mail. Upon further review I found that they didn`t have my correct mailing address & so I never received this notification. I politely told Cathy that I wanted out of this & I would like my money back. At which point she informed me that I can opt out, but can`t have my money back. "Excuse me? This is my money, what do you mean I can`t have it back?" Apparently Ms. Langan is one of those people that doesn`t like to be questioned, because she took this opportunity to get extremely rude with me. No matter how politely I attempted to reason with her, she gave me such an attitude that I felt myself getting ready to lose control, so rather than explode on her & make a scene, I turned around & walked out. To this very day I cannot understand why anyone that took my money without my consent would think that they not only don`t have to return it, but can give me an attitude on top of it. Is this any way to treat your employees? But, it wasn`t over. I then contacted Mr Ron Foss who is a trustee & overlooks most of the money matters for the tribes. It took some wrangling, but I got Mr. Foss to order Cathy Langan to return my money. I made it very clear to Mr. Foss & Ms. Langan that I do not want a 401k & if they ever decide to withhold money from my pay again, they must have my written consent. I thought that it was over now & this problem was resolved.......that is until one year later when they turned right around & did it again. I contacted Ms. Langan again & she explained to me that I must opt out every year by the end of the year, or I will be auto enrolled again. But no one told me this the year prior when I made it very clear that without my written consent they do not have the authority to withhold money from me. Regardless of whether I received notification in the mail or not (I didn`t), they have no right. Common sense would say that if you want to make a notification official, shouldn`t these notifications be sent by certified mail? That way there is no question whether I had received this notice. But as with all the information I have provided so far, it`s shamefully obvious that these people holding these administrative positions with the casino lack the ability to exercise common sense & I`m convinced that if they even went to school for business administration, it must not have been at a school on this planet. Death Is Not An Option! In the spring of 2007, I received news about my health that was quite alarming. I hadn`t been feeling well, so I went to the doctor. The doctor informed me that they had discovered something in one of my x-rays that could be quite serious, even life threatening, but they weren`t 100% sure and I would have to spend the next several months seeing specialists & having tests performed to determine if I had lung cancer or not. No one wants to hear this kind of news & although I did a pretty good job of keeping my composure, I`d be lying if I said I wasn`t scared....terrified might be a better description. So I began to prepare for the worst. You know, chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, last will & testament, etc. So I decided to take advantage of these "Employee Outreach" programs that Tulalip so proudly boasted about & went to H.R. to visit Shaunna Eldridge, who was the "Benefits Coordinator". I explained to her that I needed to know what assistance programs I might qualify for in the event that I become too sick to work from the treatments? (Washington State has no state funded short term disability). During this meeting I explained to Ms. Eldridge how important this was & that I was really worried that I might get too sick to work & may not be able to pay my bills. She informed me that she didn`t know of any assistance for me & that I wasn`t even eligible for a medical leave of absense because I hadn`t been employed with the casino for a year yet. She went on to make it clear that I couldn`t qualify for any help from the tribe either. because I`m not indian. I walked out of H.R. that morning in a state of desperation & fearing that not only might I be facing a life threatening illness, but I may become homeless too. No one should ever have to lose their pride & dignity especially at a time when they may be facing the biggest challenge of all...death! It`s like throwing salt into an open wound & kicking a man when he`s down! A few months later I learned from a fellow employee that all I had to do was opt in for short term disability with the health insurance package that I had with the casino. Ms. Eldridge was the Benefits Coordinator for the company & it was her job to handle these types of things, why on earth did she fail to tell me about that? This is exactly what I mean when I say that these people in H.R. are incompetant & over paid. ---------------------------------------------- These stories are just a few run ins that I have had. There`s several more, but I think you get the point I`m making here. Not only have the indians adopted the white man`s business practices, but they have taken the contempt associated with it to a whole new level. They may be supporting their tribes financially, but they`ve swallowed their Native pride in the process. And lets not forget that they have introduced a whole new level of prejudice & racism that seems to be ignored by many people. The same racism that they have fought against when it was imposed on them. The last straw that made me decide I had put up with enough was in July of 2008 when management ordered mandatory overtime 6 days a week until further notice, because they opened their brand new one hundred & thirty million dollar hotel before they had the appropriate staff to operate it. I tried desperately to make them understand that because of other commitments, I was not able to work 6 days a week. Other employees from other departments didn`t have to work this overtime if they were not available to do so. But apparently people in our department were not shown that courtesy. We had about 15 employees on the crew that I worked on & all of us were not happy that our management ordered us to work mandatory overtime. Unfortunately, when it came down to the defining moment, I was the only one that was willing to stand up & say no to management. What these co workers didn`t understand is that if everyone had stood up for what they believed in, management would have had to change their plans...or fire all 15 of us. These co-workers were afraid of losing their jobs & I try my best to understand that. But I had a lot to lose too & it`s that type of laying down & surrendering that gives corporations & employers more power. It sets the precedent that leads to even more manipulation in the future. But it`s even more important that we examine this closer. When I`m at work on the clock for an employer, that is their time to control me & tell me what to do. Anything outside of that 40 hours each week is MY time! Rather than wait a few more weeks to open this hotel (when they were ready), someone decided to order us into submission without any concern whatsoever. They didn`t take into account that most of us have lives outside of the casino that consisted of family time & second jobs. Rather than doing the appropriate thing & asking us if we were available to work an extra day a week, they ordered us as if to say, "We have decided that all of you must surrender an extra day per week & work for us. If you refuse, you don`t have a job anymore!" What kind of a cowardice move was that? Your valuable respected employees will either do as you say or you`ll fire them? Even worse, you`re threatening to fire them because you took THEIR TIME away from them & they cannot voice their unhappiness without the risk of losing there job? All of my coworkers were angry over this & I tried to help them understand that they need to stop crying about it & actually do something about it. Crying & complaining will not solve anything. I knew from the start that all the cards were stacked against me & I was fully aware that I will probably be standing alone when the big moment arrives. So as all my fellow coworkers were called into the office one at a time & given the piece of paper with their new 6 day a week schedule, I counted down the seconds until my name was called. I went in to the office where the two supervisors Stan & Bob were seated. I then politely but firmly made it very clear that I was not available 6 days & I refused to walk out of that office with my new schedule in hand like all my fellow coworkers did. They were afraid of losing their job. What my coworkers didn`t understand was I didn`t want to lose my job either! But am I going to lay down & let these people dictate to me how I was going to spend MY time? Absolutely Not!!! Yes I may have paid a big price, but I knew this weeks before it came to this, but I stood my ground with my back against the wall & I didn`t flinch when the knife was being twisted into my back! I had already missed two of those overtime days 2 weeks in a row. I was a no call no show both times & thats grounds for termination. A person can only put up with this type of nonsense for so long before he must decide enough is enough. So I said goodbye to most of my friends & co-workers & resigned, & I never looked back. I miss many of my friends there & I think about them everyday & I`m happy to say that I still have contact with most of them thanks to the internet & text messaging. Do I have any regrets?...other than saying goodbye to my friends... .. OF COURSE NOT! At least I can look at myself in the mirror every morning & be proud of who & what I am. A person that is willing to sacrifice things he values & isn`t afraid to just say "NO!" Now I`m a type of person that hates controversy & I do whatever it takes to avoid it. But I`m also the type of person that believes in standing up against wrong doing. I choose my battles carefully & I fight them hard! I`ve been like this all my life & most of the times I have had to suffer the consequences. But win or lose, I must stand & rebel against tyranny. And lets never forget that winning or losing does not decide whose right or wrong. I will not support the Tulalip Tribes of Washington by either working for them again, or in the capacity of a customer until they make a conscious effort to rid their organization of the racism & double standards. You may be exempt of many U.S. laws, but that doesn`t mean you should treat the non tribal people any differently than you would your own people. To stop short of that would be racism! And stop dragging the employees that you claim to value so much into non stop political situations. You made the mistake of adopting the white man`s way of business, but don`t let that fool you into thinking that you must follow in his footsteps.
Address: 10200 Quil Ceda Boulevard
City: Tulalip
State: Washington
Zip Code: 98271
Country: United States
Phone: (360) 651-1111
Website: http://www.tulalipcasino.com
Toll-Free Number: (888) 272-1111
Restaurants: 4 Liquor: Yes Valet Parking: Free
Buffets: L-$10.95/$14.95 (Sun) D-$17.95/$23.95 (Tues)
Hours:24 Hours
Casino Size: 45,000 Square Feet
Games Offered: Slots, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Spanish 21, Baccarat, Mini-Baccarat, Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, Three Card Poker, Let It Ride, Keno, Bingo
Overnight RV Parking: Free/RV Dump: No
Senior Discount: Various on Tue if 50+
Special Features: 2,300-seat amphitheatre. One mile from Quil Ceda Creek Casino.
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