Steve Wynn sues Gaming Commission over investigatory information

BOSTON — Steve Wynn, the former casino magnate whose namesake company is under investigation by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, has filed suit against the Gaming Commission in an attempt to prevent the release of the findings of the its investigation into him and the company he founded.

Gaming Commission Executive Director Edward Bedrosian told the commission Thursday that Wynn filed the suit in Las Vegas late Wednesday and that the commission has retained outside counsel to review the suit and litigate it in Nevada.

"Steve Wynn filed a lawsuit in Nevada against the director of the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau, the commission and Wynn Resorts. This new lawsuit, among other things, seeks to prevent the release of the investigation and enforcement bureau's investigatory report," Bedrosian said. "We were not surprised by this development, in fact, we had already retained local counsel in Nevada to help us litigate these issues as quickly as possible so we don't delay finishing the report and then having an appropriate adjudicatory hearing."

Commissioners will not be given a copy of the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau's report on Wynn and Wynn Resorts until the suit is resolved, Bedrosian said.

"You will not be able to see the report until these issues are resolved," he said in response to a question from Commissioner Enrique Zuniga. "We need to resolve these issues to make sure the report that is given the commission is the report you will use in the adjudicatory hearing."

Late last month, Bedrosian said the investigation that began in January was almost complete and that he expected the findings of the investigation would be made public at the start of a public hearing on the topic sometime in early December.

Since January, the commission has been looking into sexual misconduct allegations against the former Wynn Resorts president and CEO and the handling of those allegations by Wynn Resorts. A January 2018 Wall Street Journal story detailing an alleged "decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct" by the casino mogul, including claims he had pressured employees to perform sex acts, sparked the commission's inquiry.

Karen Wells, head of the commission's investigations bureau, told the commission earlier this year that she confirmed that Steve Wynn had paid a private $7.5 million settlement to a manicurist to resolve a sexual harassment allegation and that the payment was not previously disclosed during the licensing process.

WFXT