I don't play baccarat but I'm assuming the dealers have to check the cards to ensure they have a complete deck and shuffle the cards before placing them in the dealing shoe (like in black jack and other table games). The story indicates that the casino expected the cards to arrive shuffled form the manufacturer...seems like a stupid argument unless I'm missing something.

However, if the argument is that the palyers and dealers where working together to fix the game then that is another story.