Nevada Gaming Commission joins Control Board in appealing Wynn ruling

On Thursday the five-member Nevada Gaming Commission, without any discussion, voted unanimously to have the Nevada Attorney General’s office legally contest the ruling signed Nov. 19 by Clark County District Judge Adriana Escobar.

The three-person Gaming Control took a similar vote on Dec. 2.

It’s unclear when the Attorney General’s office will proceed with the action.

Escobar agreed with arguments brought by Wynn’s attorneys that Steve Wynn’s resignation in February 2018 as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, coupled with the sale of his holdings in the casino company, removed the Nevada Gaming Commission’s oversight.

The Control Board filed a complaint in October 2019 that sought to label Steve Wynn “unsuitable to be associated with a gaming enterprise or the gaming industry as a whole.” Two months later, the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously voted that it had the authority and jurisdiction to rule in the matter but allowed Wynn’s attorney to seek a judicial review.

Wynn’s legal team said in a hearing in front of Judge Escobar earlier this year that the five-count complaint against Steve Wynn was moot. The former gaming executive resigned as chairman and CEO and sold all his stock in the casino company a week after a Wall Street Journal article revealed years of sexual misconduct and harassment allegations by Steve Wynn against employees. He has denied the allegations.

In February 2019, Wynn Resorts paid a $20 million fine – the largest in Nevada history – to the Gaming Commission to settle a 10-count complaint that detailed years of failure by former company executives to “report and/or investigate” numerous allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct by Steve Wynn. Massachusetts gaming regulators slapped a $35 million fine on Wynn Resorts three months later.

Eight months later, the Control Board filed its complaint against Steve Wynn. The first four counts primarily covered sexual misconduct and harassment allegations; the fifth alleged that Wynn failed to appear and testify at a Gaming Control Board investigative hearing.

A year ago, Las Vegas attorney Don Campbell, Wynn’s lawyer, told the Gaming Commission that his client “has no control over Wynn Resorts as a matter of law, no financial interest, and he no longer exercises any control. In less than 90 days, he ended all personal involvement and ended a nearly 50-year career in Nevada gaming.”

In her ruling, Escobar wrote that “respondents fail to provide any authority supporting their jurisdiction over a person no longer involved in Nevada’s gaming industry in any capacity. Importantly, respondents fail to support their position that they have jurisdiction over a person with no intent to be involved in Nevada’s gaming industry in the future. Why? There is none.”

Wynn Resorts underwent a complete makeover following Steve Wynn’s departure, with a remake of the company’s board, new leadership in the executive suite, and new policies directed toward sexual harassment prevention. A compliance committee was created with numerous procedures to prevent any harassment allegation from going unchecked.