Workplace hostility continues for female employees at Wynn Resorts, according to a class action lawsuit filed this past week against the Las Vegas-based casino operator, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday on behalf of massage therapist Brenna Schrader. Ms. Schrader previously revealed that she had been forced to perform sex acts on Wynn Resorts’ co-founder and former CEO, Steve Wynn.
Mr. Wynn, the billionaire businessman who played an instrumental role in the creation of Las Vegas’ modern-day skyline, was banished from the company he had created back in the early 2000s following the publication of a damning report by the Wall Street Journal detailing a long-running pattern of sexual misconduct and harassment.
Mr. Wynn denied to have used his power and influence to coerce women workers at Wynn Resorts into performing sex acts and subjecting them to unwanted sexual advances. However, the WSJ report, followed by piles of lawsuits and regulatory investigations in all jurisdictions where Wynn Resorts operates casino properties resulted in the businessman’s banishment and in hefty fines and scolding for his company.
Hostility Continues
According to the lawsuit recently filed by the massage therapist, Wynn Resorts executives continue to “mentally abuse” her. Ms. Schrader was forced to perform sex acts on the company’s former CEO from 2012 to 2016.
Her legal complaint said that “defendants appear to blame victims for the discriminatory environment that permeates workplace atmosphere to this day.” She went on that company executives call her and other female victims of Mr. Wynn’s sexual advances “prostitutes and sluts.”
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Schrader tried to report the sexually hostile workplace environment and “the sexual prisonlike atmosphere” back when she was coerced to have sex with Mr. Wynn and as recently as this year. However, she said that her attempts were met with resistance.
Her lawsuit alleged that Wynn Resorts “continued to outwardly support” Mr. Wynn through various memorandums, “which is calculated to deter female employees from cooperating and liberating themselves from forced sexual servitude and a sexually hostile environment.”
Wynn Resorts’ Response
Commenting on news about the recently filed lawsuit, Wynn Resorts said in a Friday statement emailed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the company is “deeply committed to a fair, supportive, and open work environment.”
The company went on that since the completion of a regulatory investigation, it has not received any complaints of the nature described in Ms. Schrader’s lawsuit other than “the allegation in this lawsuit which was promptly investigated” and that it “immediately followed all appropriate procedures to address the matter.”
The sexual misconduct allegations and the fact that regulators found Wynn Resorts failed to address them properly could have cost the company’s licenses in Nevada and Massachusetts, where it debuted the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor luxury integrated resort this past June.
The casino operator was allowed to keep its gaming licenses in both states, but regulators slapped it with hefty fines and numerous conditions relating to its anti-sexual harassment policies the company is obligated to follow in order to avoid further and tougher regulatory action.
Wynn Resorts was fined $20 million by the Nevada Gaming Commission and $35 million by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
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