Gaming | Nevada regulators to fine Wynn Resorts over sex allegations

Steve Wynn, founder and former CEO of Wynn Resorts

Nevada gambling regulators announced a settlement yesterday with casino mogul Steve Wynn’s former company over allegations that former executives failed on multiple occasions to investigate claims of sexual misconduct against him.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board detailed at least seven allegations of misconduct by Wynn dating to 2005 in which former executives and managers of Wynn Resorts became of aware of the claims but failed to act. The board also said Wynn’s conduct was “inappropriate and unsuitable” and violated company policies.

Wynn resigned from his company in February 2018 and has denied any misconduct.

The control board’s settlement with Wynn Resorts does not revoke or limit its gambling license but requires the company to pay a fine. The amount will be set by the Nevada Gaming Commission, but it wasn’t immediately clear when that could occur.

Wynn Resorts said in a statement the closing of the board’s investigation was “an important remedial step” and noted that any employee named in the control board’s report as having been aware of the allegations but who failed to investigate or report them are “no longer with the company.”

“We have fully cooperated and been transparent with the board in this in-depth investigation. We look forward to appearing before the Nevada Gaming Commission to review the settlement and establish the final resolution of the investigation,” the statement said.

Wynn’s attorney L. Lin Wood said he was busy with a deposition for another case Monday and was not in a position to respond.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board’s investigation began last year after a January 2018 report in the Wall Street Journal that said a number of women reported they were harassed or assaulted by Wynn, including one case that led to a USD7.5 million settlement with a manicurist.

Its complaint said that the woman in 2005 alleged she had been raped by Wynn and became pregnant as a result. The complaint said the salon’s management reported the allegations to human resources and at least four former executives failed to take action after learning of the allegations.

The complaint said former executives also failed to investigate after a cocktail server alleged that Wynn pressured her into a nonconsensual sexual relationship from 2005 to 2006, which resulted in him paying a private settlement of $975,000 to the woman and her parents.

The complaint also says Wynn sexually harassed multiple flight attendants with Las Vegas Jet, LLC., a Wynn Resorts subsidiary that provided pilots and other flight services for several aircraft owned by the company.

The report also included allegations from three workers at the Wynn Resort spa that Wynn sexually harassed them while he was receiving massages in 2014, allegations that Wynn engaged in sexual misconduct in 2005 against a former cocktail server and flight attendant, allegations that a Wynn employee, not named in the report, facilitated sexual relationships for Wynn and hotel guests with cocktail servers, and allegations made in a 2007 email to Wynn’s former general counsel alleging that a former executive not named in the report “loves sleeping with cocktail servers.”

Along with the probe by Nevada regulators, a similar investigation was launched in Massachusetts, where Wynn Resorts plans to open a $2 billion casino-hotel this summer near Boston. Wynn has sued to block the release of a Massachusetts Gaming Commission report on its investigation, arguing it contains confidential information that is protected by attorney-client privilege.

A Nevada judge has temporarily blocked the report’s release.

The Macau gaming authority did not open its own investigation into Wynn Resorts but said last year that it was seeking more information from local subsidiary Wynn Macau. The local arm of the Wynn casino empire said it would “fully cooperate with any requests” from the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

Wynn Resorts said the company had “undergone an extensive self-examination over the last twelve months,” to create a safe, healthy and supportive workplace.

The changes included leadership changes, including a new CEO and changeover at the company’s board of directors, sexual harassment prevention training for all employees, a women’s leadership council that promotes equality in the workplace and studies of pay and promotion equity.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Larry Hadfield said he was not aware of the police department launching any criminal investigations based on allegations released in the report. MDT/AP