The chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board declined comment Wednesday as to whether or not the agency was investigating and considering discipline against disgraced casino CEO Steve Wynn, a day after state gaming regulators fined his former company a record $20 million for failing to investigate claims of sexual misconduct made against him.
Wynn Resorts agreed to a stipulated settlement in January to a 10-count complaint but had to wait until Tuesday to hear how much it would be penalized.
In an email to CDC Gaming Reports, Sandra Douglass Morgan said, “The Board does not comment on whether or not there is a pending investigation on any licensee.”
Steve Wynn, who departed Wynn Resorts a year ago, was not part of the settlement. Nevada gaming regulators placed an administrative hold on his gaming license. He did not attend Tuesday’s hearing in front of the Nevada Gaming Commission, but he was alluded to during the 90-minute proceedings.
“Respondents (Wynn Resorts) are likely to state in their presentation to you today that they were not the real villain here; that the real villain was Steve Wynn, and, thus, their conduct was not that egregious,” Senior Deputy Attorney General John Michela told the Gaming Commission.
The complaint, following a year-long investigation by the Control Board, named several former Wynn executives, who gaming investigators said were aware of the numerous allegations leveled by employees against Steve Wynn going back to 2005, including rape and non-consensual sexual relations.
“This is a case about one person’s misconduct and the alleged mishandling by a small handle of people,” said attorney Greg Brower, the company’s outside legal counsel.
Wynn has denied all allegations against him. One of his attorneys, Colby Williams, told the Associated Press that he was aware of the fine but declined to comment.
The Gaming Control Board not taken disciplinary action against Wynn or other former Wynn Resorts executives named in the settlement.
“Isn’t it strange that the people that are the subject of this aren’t even in the room today?” said Gaming Commission member John Moran Jr.
Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo Jr. said in an interview following the hearing he couldn’t speculate on any action that might be leveled against Steve Wynn.
“What was before us here was the corporation,” Alamo said. “It’s time to heal. Let’s go to work, let’s build casinos, let’s hire people, let’s pay taxes. This company put the brakes on everything. There is a major hotel-casino across the street that has been stopped. A huge water park was put on hold. Let’s start to build again. That’s what occurred here today.”
Wynn Resorts will have five days after the stipulated settlement is executed to pay the $20 million fine. The money will go into Nevada’s general fund.
The fine was the largest handed down in Nevada history, nearly four times larger than the previous penalty, $5.5 million levied in 2014 against Cantor Gaming, now known as CG Technology. The figure was roughly 3.4 percent of Wynn’s companywide total net income of $584.2 million in 2018.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter
