Caesars Palace, the Las Vegas hotel and casino, has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit in the USA by agreeing to pay $850,000 (£427,000) to eight kitchen workers who were forced to have sex with supervisors in "makeshift sex rooms".

Anna Park, an attorney for the for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the USA, said that the women, aged 19 to 40 years old, were forced to have sex under threat of being sacked.

Park described the room as "a dirty little secret that was there for a long time".

According to Associated Press, the women, many of whom could speak only Spanish, were also subjected to lewd acts and comments on a daily basis.

Federico Sayre, a lawyer for the four women subjected to the worst abuse, said the women complained to a human resources manager in 2001, but the allegations were not investigated because she was having a relationship with one of the men involved.

Three male supervisors have since been dismissed, but the HR manager is still employed by the casino's owner, Harrah's Entertainment, Sayre said.

The incidents happened before Harrah's acquired the gambling mecca two years ago.

Harrah's also agreed to run sexual harassment training, appoint a person to address complaints, and to employ a third-party consultant to ensure compliance.

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By Daniel Thomas

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