Waitress Claims Mold from Casino Bar gave her Rash and Blisters

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http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=1327438

Waitress Claims Mold from Casino Bar gave her Rash and Blisters

June 18, 2003

By Roswell Encina

"I've been having bad pains with my hands." It's itchy and painful. That's what this cocktail waitress from Gold Strike Casino claims. For more than two weeks she's been struggling with blisters and a rash on her hands. "It rots into the skin." This woman who does not want to be identified says more than 16 other Gold Strike waitresses have this problem. She believes it's coming from the mold growing behind the bar. "These are the pictures of the mold. This is the dishwater that the glasses are being run through."She says she has the pictures to prove it. Pictures showing mold growing around the dishwasher, in the container that holds drink garnishes like olives and limes.

"This is the mold right above the ice bin," says the waitress. "You can see the mold going into the ice." "What did they tell you when you confronted them?"

"They didn't say anything they disagreed with me totally," says the waitress.So, we asked the questions for her. We spoke to the Marketing Director of Gold Strike. She wouldn't talk on camera, but told us since we brought the problem to their attention, they got on it immediately. They looked at their health records and went to the bar. She promises they're going to replace the fixtures immediately and made it a point to say they have passed health inspections.

But it's the health of customers that concerns this waitress..."People are being served drinks from this and they're not knowing what the reaction can be from this," says the waitress."

We couldn't reach anyone from the Health Department in Tunica County about this. So we spoke to a doctor who is affiliated with Baptist Hospital in Memphis. The doctor says mostly likely the waitress is suffering from an allergic reaction to the mold and that can't be passed on. However, the doctor says the mold needs to be tested - he says if it's a fungus - there is a possibility it can spread.