RWS to pay high-roller S$37,000 for confining, manhandling him

SINGAPORE — The High Court has ordered Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to pay a high-roller nearly S$37,000 in damages and medical expenses for confining and manhandling him.

Justice Choo Han Teck, however, dismissed Australian lawyer Adesh Kumar Goel’s claim of over S$407,000 for loss of earnings and aggravated and exemplary damages. Exemplary damages are awarded to punish and deter a party from similar behaviour in future.

Mr Goel and another casino patron got into a heated dispute in April 2012 after the latter mistakenly took his gambling chip at a gaming table.

Mr Goel was escorted to a room to discuss the incident. He wanted to leave the room a few minutes later but was stopped by security officers. He tried several more times to leave the room before calling the police. After the police recorded his statement, Mr Goel left the casino a persona non grata, barred from entering for a year despite his membership.

Justice Choo found that RWS had no lawful basis to detain Mr Goel and had falsely imprisoned him for 46 minutes. The security officers’ and auxiliary police officers’ acts of holding Mr Goel back, grabbing his arms and scuffling with him amounted to battery, said the judge, who ruled that a right shoulder fracture resulted from the incident.

Mr Goel, 43, a Singapore permanent resident who is also a venture capitalist, failed in his claim for loss of pre-trial earnings as he failed to prove he had lost a major client. He also did not prove that the loss, if it had occurred, was caused by his injuries.

Justice Choo dismissed the claim for aggravated and exemplary damages, disagreeing with Mr Goel’s assertion that this was a case of a “multibillion-dollar government licensed corporation” that abused the power wielded over an individual’s civil rights. “It is simply one where an employer is held to be vicariously liable for the torts that its employees had committed, which were in turn due to poor judgment and the way events developed on the material day,” wrote Justice Choo.

The casino officers were found to be 80 per cent liable, while auxiliary police officers provided by SATS Security Services were found to be 20 per cent liable. He ordered the casino to pay S$36,732.59 — 80 per cent of the S$45,915.74 awarded as damages for false imprisonment and pain and suffering, and pre-trial medical and transport expenses. SATS Security Services, which was brought into the lawsuit as a third party by RWS, and is not a defendant, was not ordered to pay damages.

During the trial earlier this year, RWS’ lawyer N Sreenivasan had accused Mr Goel — represented by Mr Abraham Vergis — of treating casinos as “soft targets for compensation arising from his own conduct”, when it emerged that Mr Goel had once received compensation from an Australian casino for being irresponsible in serving him alcohol.

Contacted today (Nov 5), RWS said it was pleased with the High Court’s judgment. Asked if it has taken any action against the officers involved, a spokesperson said: “Resorts World Sentosa has been delivering exemplary customer experience to all our visitors, and we stay committed in ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all our guests.”