Uston v. Hilton Hotels Corporation

448 F. Supp. 116 (1978)

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Uston v. Hilton Hotels Corporation

United States District Court for the District of Nevada
448 F. Supp. 116 (1978)

  • Written by Brett Stavin, JD

Facts

On June 29, 1975, Kenneth Uston (plaintiff) sought to play blackjack at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel casino, owned by Hilton Hotels Corporation (Hilton) (defendant), when two security guards approached him and requested that he leave the premises. The guards escorted Uston to the hotel entrance and recited the trespass statute to him, after which Uston left. Uston alleged that he was excluded from the premises because of his skill in blackjack. Uston filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Hilton pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Hilton violated his Fourteenth Amendment due-process and equal-protection rights under color of state law. Hilton moved for summary judgment on the basis that Hilton’s actions constituted private conduct that was not actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because there was no significant state involvement. In response, Uston argued that Hilton’s actions met the state-action requirement by virtue of Nevada’s comprehensive regulation of casino gambling and because Nevada failed to prohibit the exclusion of card counters from casinos. For the latter argument, Uston relied on the fact that Nevada maintained a list of persons who must be excluded from gambling establishments for various reasons, and none of those reasons related to card counting, and Uston was not on the list.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Foley, C.J.)

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