As he gears up for a bruising and expensive reelection campaign, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has been able to count on the support of two of Nevada’s wealthiest men—Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.
The brothers and their company, Station Casinos, where they’ve left a trail of labor law violations in their wake, have emerged as Lombardo’s second biggest donors, collectively contributing nearly $5 million to Lombardo’s campaign and his affiliated PAC since 2022.
Now, after Lombardo vetoed a slew of bills during the 2025 legislative session that would’ve helped the workforce supporting Nevada’s tourism economy, the Culinary Union is questioning whether Lombardo’s decisions were influenced by his relationship with the Fertitta brothers.
Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, told The Nevadan that Lombardo has been a “huge disappointment” for the Culinary Union and pointed to his connection to the Fertitta brothers.
“These MAGA bros are the [second] largest donor by far to Lombardo, are also the largest law breakers in labor law history [in the] state of Nevada,” Pappageorge said in an interview. “[This] is something that we think is of interest to voters.”
Who are the Fertittas?
The Fertitta brothers have been involved in the Las Vegas gaming industry for nearly 50 years. The brothers launched Station Casinos in Southern Nevada and are also known for building the UFC into a multi-billion dollar sports empire before they sold it in 2016.
The Culinary Union began unionizing efforts with Station Casinos in 2010. Pappageorge has labeled the Fertitta brothers as the “worst law breakers” in Nevada history in terms of union busting.
Between 2019 and 2022, Station Casinos management put thousands of employees on MUD lists—labeling them as management (M), union (U), or don’t know (D). Pappageorge said the MUD lists were “egregious” because after the casinos laid off staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, the “highest levels of executives” used the lists to determine which employees to rehire after the pandemic, and chose to rehire management, but not union workers.
In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board General Council alleged the company used the pandemic to tamper with union support through discriminatory rehiring practices.
Barbie Tivas, a banquet server at Station Casinos’ Green Valley Ranch (GVR), was one of the employees targeted during the pandemic.
“I was let go during the COVID pandemic and was never rehired despite the implementation of the Right to Return Act,” Tivas wrote in a testimony. “I also attended GVR’s job fair to try to get my job back, but I still didn’t receive a call back.”
In 2021, the Nevada Legislature passed SB 386, also known as the Nevada Hospitality and Travel Workers Right to Return Act. Under the law, employers were required to rehire employees laid off due to the pandemic before they could hire new staff. This included employers who manage casinos, event centers, hotels, airport hospitality operations, airport service providers.
A document obtained by The Nevadan from the Culinary Union shows several Station Casinos employees who were let go during the pandemic have reapplied several times, but weren’t rehired—or were rehired without benefits and now receive lower pay.
Alba Acosta, a server at Station Casinos’ Red Rock Casino, was let go during the pandemic, and was rehired—but as an on-call server instead. She receives lower pay, lost her benefits, and her schedule isn’t as consistent as it was before.
“I have suffered from stress and mental anguish due to the [financial burden] the company has caused,” Acosta wrote in the document. “I’m the sole caretaker of my elderly, physically disabled mother, so I constantly worry if I can afford her care.”
In 2022, the Culinary Union announced 76 former and current hospitality workers sued Station Casinos, alleging management violated SB 386. The trial is still moving through state courts.
“SB386 was our return to work law that required companies to bring people back to work from the pandemic before they hired from the outside,” Pappageorge said in an interview. “The company went so far as to not hire the union folks, but also closed down union supportive properties.”
Among the properties Station shuttered during the pandemic and never reopened were Fiesta Henderson, Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho. All three locations were unionized, according to a Culinary Union spokesperson.
“They are a pair of billionaire brothers … and their goal has been to deny the workers [the] right to have a union and bargain for fair contracts,” Pappageorge said.
In 2024, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in a separate case that Station Casinos management violated labor laws multiple times. The federal board discovered Station Casinos targeted, threatened, coerced, and published photos of employees on an anti-union website.
The Board found Station Casinos conducted “extensive, coercive and unlawful misconduct” that was “carefully crafted” to “interfere with employees’ free choice whether or not to” unionize.
The Culinary Union filed this complaint against Station Casinos in 2019, alleging the company offered workers benefits in exchange for them to vote against unionizing.
The federal board also ordered a cease and desist to Station Casinos, ordering the company stop“threatening employees with loss of benefits if they select union representation.”
Ties to Lombardo
The Fertitta Brothers and Station Casinos have contributed $4.75 million to Lombardo’s Nevada Way PAC, with each brother contributing $1.75 million and the company another $1.25 million. The brothers, other casino entities affiliated with them, and other members of the Fertitta family also collectively contributed $270,000 to Lombardo’s campaign between 2022 and 2025.
Nine days after Lombardo was sworn in, he appointed Kirk Hendrick, a former Fertittas-era UFC executive, as chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which provides regulations and licenses for gaming.
In 2023, the Gaming Control Board recommended approvals for a series of licenses for Station Casinos, despite union members sharing concerns about the MUD lists and how the workforce has been treated.
Following the meeting, Hendrick said conflicts between the union and management are under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. He added it would be inappropriate for the board to assert itself between the Culinary Union and Station Casinos management, despite recommending licenses for the company.
While the Fertitta Brothers have several ongoing trials to determine if they violated labor laws in the Silver State, the Culinary Union spokesperson told The Nevadan they wonder if the Fertitta brothers’ donations have influenced his actions.
During the 2025 legislative session, Lombardo vetoed numerous bills that would’ve helped Nevada workers, including AB112, which would’ve expanded accrued sick leave for employees protected under collective bargaining units. In his veto message, Lombardo wrote this bill would “undermine the collective bargaining process and disrupt the balance of labor-management relations across the state.”
“AB112 represents yet another effort to mandate benefits for unionized employees outside the negotiation of their collective bargaining agreements, thereby undermining the integrity of those agreements,” Lombardo wrote in the veto message.
Other bills that Lombardo vetoed include extended paid family leave, a bill that would’ve established protections against retaliation for employees who don’t attend workplace events involving religious or political views, and a bill that would’ve increased penalties for employers who don’t pay owed wages to employees who resigned, quit, or were placed on nonworking status.
Lombardo’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
