Performers claim unsafe conditions at Casa Bonita

From the article:

Since April of last year, Shields and Casa Bonita performers have been locked in negotiations with management. The group is asking for better protections for performers who say they got hypothermia and chlorine toxicity from the diving pool, as well as security for costumed performers who say they’ve been grabbed sexually by patrons. The group is also asking for a raise to bring them more in line with the servers, who they say make more. The union says it’s already made concessions at the bargaining table but with little offered in return to improve current conditions and wages.

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When Stone and Parker re-opened Casa Bonita in the summer of 2023, diver Bethel Lindsley was brought in to build a squad of professionals. Lindsley, who both performs at Casa Bonita and oversees the dive team, is a former gymnast and circus performer with live water show experience on cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and The Han Show in China.

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She says the divers at Casa Bonita are either division one collegiate divers or have circus and water performance backgrounds.

Casa Bonita’s dive set up is unique. Performers dive from multiple cliffs as high as 16 feet into a small pool, 12.5 feet deep and 22.5 feet square. They dive solo and in tandem and are required to rock climb to exit the pool.

According to Lindsley, one diver suffered a concussion underwater after a dive. At one point the pool temperature wasn’t regulated properly, and she claims a diver got hypothermia. The team got chlorine toxicity because the chlorine pool levels weren’t getting checked regularly, she also said.