Ex-pit boss sues, says casino didn't help in fracas with Ditka

NEW ORLEANS - Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s New Orleans casino has been sued by a former pit boss who alleges officials of the company failed to back him up in a confrontation with Mike Ditka, the former New Orleans Saints head coach.

In a suit filed in state court in New Orleans, Randy Curtis said he quit his job overseeing craps tables at the casino after Ditka cursed at him and hurled a lit cigar in a dispute over a dice roll that allegedly cost the pro football Hall of Famer thousands of dollars.

Curtis contends Harrah's officials at first refused to remove Ditka from the casino after he reported the incident, which occurred March 16. News reports said security officers later escorted Ditka from the facility and banned him from returning for three months.

Curtis was forced to leave his job because casino officials have created "an unsafe working environment which they refuse to remedy," he said in the suit, filed April 4.

Harrah's officials weren't immediately available to comment on Curtis' suit.

Ditka, fired as the Saints coach in January, became enraged after Curtis ruled that he'd lost a heavy bet when one of the dice came to rest leaning against a pile of chips on the craps table.

Ditka was betting "amounts in excess of $5,000," the suit said.

Ditka, who had been getting free drinks from the casino according to the suit, is "known throughout the casino industry to be volatile and to not have good impulse control," the suit added.

Curtis contends that Harrah's operates under a double standard when it comes to disruptive gamblers.

Rowdy behavior by high-rollers such as Ditka is tolerated much longer than with gamblers who have less money, the suit said.

Ditka, hired by CBS as a pro football analyst, wasn't named in the suit. But New Orleans officials are weighing whether he should face criminal charges in the incident.

He was fired as head coach of the Chicago Bears almost a decade ago. He has signed as a television analyst for the team's four exhibition games.