Did the company that owned the World Trade Center sue the 3000 dead victims? Did they sue the poor souls who jumped out of the 100thfloor to their death to avoid burning flames?
Do you think McDonald’s will sue their customers who recently got violently ill after eating tainted salads at McDonald’s around the country?
How about Chipotle? Did they sue the thousands of customers who got sick in multiple illness outbreaks at their restaurants?
Do you think my beloved New York Yankees should sue me and the other fans at Yankee Stadium after a loss to the Red Sox?
Of course not. These are ludicrous ideas. No company or CEO in his right mind would ever dare sue his own customers, right? Especially not ones maimed or killed at his own place of business.
Except CEO Jim Murren and his company MGM Resorts International just did exactly that. They sued the victims. They sued people who were grieviously wounded. They sued people paralyzed for life. They sued people with PTSD who may never feel safe again.
They sued wives who will never see their husband again. And children left without parents. And parents who will never see their kids again.
Who does something like this? Who makes a decision like this? What kind of heartless CEO would agree to this strategy?
In several past columns, I’ve written about the two rules of business wisdom imparted upon me by my brilliant immigrant grandfather. He said the two rules of business that can never be violated are:
Rule #1. The customer is always right.
Rules #2. If the customer is wrong, please refer back to the first rule.
Grandpa never would have believed MGM’s new rule of business: If the customer is shot and killed, or paralyzed, or traumatized at your place of business, sue them and make sure they are victimized, terrorized and traumatized a second time.
MGM actually went there. The face of Las Vegas. The biggest employer in this town. The largest gaming company in the world. Run by CEO Jim Murren.
Doesn’t the Nevada Gaming Commission and Gaming Control Board constantly fine Vegas gaming companies…and block executives from being employed by Vegas gaming companies, for the sin of hurting the brand of Las Vegas? Well this is the biggest black eye in Vegas history. This is the worst branding in the history of business. This is the destruction of all the goodwill ever created by Vegas. This is the destruction of MGM’s brand. Kirk Krekorian is rolling over in his grave.
This decision makes old-time Vegas mobster CEOs look like good guys looking out for the best interests of their customers. Bugsy Siegel looks like a model corporate citizen compared to Jim Murren’s decision to screw the victims of the worst mass shooting in America’s history.
But this is just one in a long line of terrible decisions by MGM CEO Murren. Strike one was the suffocating greed of charging obscene fees for parking for the first time in Vegas history. Strike two was deciding to screw over Vegas locals too. Which is why two million Vegas residents don’t go near MGM properties anymore.
Strike three was publicly endorsing radical leftist organizations disguised as charities like CAIR and Southern Poverty Law Center. No CEO is his right mind would dare go near radical controversial organizations like that.
CAIR was declared an unindicted co-conspirator to TERRORISM by the US government. Even Democrat US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called CAIR “a front for Hamas.” SPLC has put mainstream conservatives, Christians and churches on a “Hate List.” Murren decided to publicly announce using MGM money, shareholder money and employee money to back these horrible groups. Three strikes and you’re out.
But no one- including me- ever imagined Murren would issue a Strike Four this disgraceful, mean-spirited, heartless, let alone destructive to the image of Las Vegas. What CEO in their right mind would want to create the brand of “The Most Hated Company in the History of Business”?
Four strikes and you’re out Jim Murren. It’s time for the Casino Control Commission to act. This lawsuit has literally ruined MGM and brought great shame upon the brand of Las Vegas.
Wayne Allyn Root (Wayne@ROOTforAmerica.com) is a best-selling author and host of the nationally-syndicated “WAR Now: The Wayne Allyn Root Show” from 3 to 6 p.m. daily at 790 Talk Now. His R-J columns run Thursdays and Sundays.
