The Nevada Gaming Control Board is firm in its stance that it still has jurisdiction over casino tycoon Steve Wynn, even though he is no longer directly involved in the state’s gaming industry.
The board lodged last month a complaint with the state Gaming Commission, seeking to have Mr. Wynn’s Nevada casino industry suitability revoked.
The board also asked its fellow regulator to fine the former boss of casino operator Wynn Resorts after a bombshell investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed a decades-long pattern of alleged sexual misconduct by the businessman.
In response to the board’s complaint, Mr. Wynn’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss earlier this month, arguing that state regulators cannot discipline him because he is no longer involved in the Silver State’s gambling industry.
On Wednesday, the Gaming Control Board said in a 13-page filing that Mr. Wynn’s motion to dismiss was legally flawed. The board’s response paves the way for a hearing before the Nevada Gaming Commission on December 19. Mr. Wynn and his attorneys have until December 9 to reply to the regulator.
The Wall Street Journal published in January 2018 an extensive report featuring multiple allegations by former and current employees of Wynn Resorts’ two Las Vegas hotel and casino resorts that Mr. Wynn had subjected them to unwanted sexual advances and coerced them into performing sexual acts on him.
The disgraced businessman has repeatedly denied the allegations. Yet, he stepped down as CEO and Chairman of Wynn Resorts in February 2018 and offloaded his personal stake in the company the following month.
Board Demands Businessman to Be Fined, Banned from State Casino Industry
The Gaming Control Board’s five-count complaint lodged through the state attorney general’s office alleged that Mr. Wynn had for years sexually harassed employees, thus violating state licensing suitability regulations.
The filing also asked the Nevada Gaming Commission to fine Mr. Wynn and to ban him from any involvement in the state gaming industry. Despite the sexual allegations leveled against him, Mr. Wynn has not been ordered to pay any penalties by state gaming regulators so far. On the other hand, Wynn Resorts was hit with a $20 million fine in Nevada and a $35 million one in Massachusetts for failing to address the sexual misconduct allegations against its boss in due manner.
The Wednesday complaint read that “by engaging in this conduct, whether consensual or not, Mr. Wynn disregarded Wynn Company’s policies and procedures.”
In his motion to dismiss, the businessman argued that he does not have any involvement with a Nevada gaming license holder, which means that he poses no threat to the industry or the public, as a whole.
However, the Gaming Control Board insists that “Wynn seems to argue that he can unilaterally cut off this commission’s subject matter jurisdiction by leaving Wynn Resorts, but no section of the Gaming Control Act supports his premise.”
It was this week again when news emerged that Mr. Wynn will have to pay $20 million to his former company as part of a $41 million settlement with pension funds that hold Wynn Resorts shares.
Source: Gaming Control Board insists it has jurisdiction over Steve Wynn, The Las Vegas Review-Journal
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