Investigation reports from Massachusetts gaming regulators released on Tuesday, 2nd April, 2019 revealed that sexual allegation accusation against casino operator’s billionaire founder, Steve Wynn were covered-up by former executives of Wynn Resorts Ltd.
This revelation was released after a three-day hearing at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to ascertain whether Wynn Resorts remains suitable to retain a license needed to run a $2.6-billion casino just outside Boston which the company is planning to open in June, 2019.
On Tuesday, 2nd April, 2019, Steve Wynn called the accusations of sexual misconducts leveled against him as “preposterous.”
The report released by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission investigation is an off-shoot of an investigation of sexual misconducts by the commission’s investigations and enforcement bureau following an article published in by The Wall Street Journal detailing allegations that Steve Wynn had engaged in a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct in January, 2018.
The sexual accusation allegations led to his exit as the company’s chief executive and sale of his 11.8-percent stake in the company which made him one of the most prominent corporate executives to lose his job amid the #MeToo movement, which has highlighted longstanding patterns of sexual harassment and abuse in major U.S. institutions.
In a statement released by Wynn Resort during the hearing on Tuesday, the company stated that it made arrangement for Steve Wynn to vacate his position without severance. Wynn Resorts cooperated with the Massachusetts inquiry and has parted ways with any employee who did not investigate or report allegations against Steve Wynn.
Wynn Resorts shares were up 1.9 percent at $131.85.
Massachusetts investigators concluded that over several years, a limited group of executives and employees disregarded company policies when it came to allegations of sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn involving other employees.
According to the report made available by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, “The 199-page report said certain executives, with the help of outside lawyers, also took steps after learning about allegations against Steve Wynn to conceal them.
The report stated that “Their efforts at secrecy made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for gaming regulators to detect this potentially derogatory information through typical regulatory means.”
The report said the actions of those now-former executives “appear to have contributed to a culture where employees were reluctant to report allegations against Steve Wynn to management.”
The Las Vegas-based company received its Massachusetts license in 2013, allowing it to move forward with building the 671-room “Encore Boston Harbor” in Everett, Massachusetts.
The five-member commission is not expected to issue a decision for several weeks. It can impose conditions on the Las Vegas-based company’s license or revoke it entirely.
Nevada casino regulators, following a similar investigation into its response to allegations against Wynn, in February fined the company $20 million.
