Steve Wynn agrees to pay $10M fine to settle harassment complaint
Former Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn has signed a settlement agreement with the Nevada Gaming Control Board and will pay a $10 million fine that will bring an end to a sexual harassment complaint the board filed against him in 2019.
The Nevada Gaming Commission will consider the settlement at its July 27 meeting in Carson City.
Representatives of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts had no comment on the settlement and efforts to reach Steve Wynn through a Las Vegas contact were unsuccessful.
If approved by the commission, the $10 million fine would be the largest ever assessed against an individual licensee.
Under terms of the settlement, Wynn will not admit to or deny wrongdoing and will waive a hearing on the matter and “shall remain entirely removed from any direct or indirect affiliation, financing, consultation, promotional advertising in any form of media or licensing agreement in the Nevada gaming industry …”
The Gaming Control Board filed the sexual harassment complaint 1½ years after Wynn, 81, resigned his executive roles with Wynn Resorts Ltd., divested his financial interest in the company and moved from a villa in which he resided at the resort in early 2018.
Several publications, including The Wall Street Journal, had reported complaints from female employees about sexual harassment in January 2018, but Wynn repeatedly denied ever harassing anyone. In the weeks following publication of the allegations, Wynn resigned his company positions as well as his role of finance chair for the Republican National Committee.
Company fined
In February 2019, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Wynn Resorts $20 million for failing to respond to harassment complaints raised by several women. Three months later, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which at the time was deliberating about granting a license for Wynn Resorts to open Encore Boston Harbor, fined the company $35 million and then-CEO Matt Maddox $500,000 for failing to act on harassment complaints.
Encore Boston Harbor eventually opened in June 2019 and the scandal resulted in Wynn Resorts overhauling its board of directors with highly respected gaming industry leader Phil Satre selected as the board’s chairman and several women taking directors roles.
The five-count, 23-page complaint against Wynn filed by the Control Board in October 2019 said its investigation found that there were harassment complaints that began as early as 2005 when Steve Wynn was first licensed as an executive with Wynn Resorts.
“During this time, multiple women in employment positions that were subordinate to Mr. Wynn reported that Mr. Wynn subjected them to unwanted sexual advances,” the complaint said.
“Mr. Wynn never reported these allegations to the appropriate individuals or departments but instead concealed at least some of them through nondisclosure agreements and various other means. When some of Mr. Wynn’s alleged misconduct became public in 2018, it resulted in negative reporting that was widely disseminated in media outlets around the world. This negative reporting and the underlying conduct harmed Nevada’s reputation and its gaming industry. It damaged the public’s confidence and trust in an industry that is vitally important to the economy of the state of Nevada and the general welfare of its inhabitants.”
The Control Board’s complaint said that because Wynn Resorts failed to investigate the harassment claims, board investigators were obligated to conduct their own investigation.
“That investigation revealed numerous potential instances of unwanted sexual contact by Mr. Wynn,” the complaint said. “Multiple female employees stated they experienced unwelcome sexual conduct by Mr. Wynn, including exposing himself, inappropriate comments and touching, coerced sex, and requests for oral and vaginal sex acts. Investigators identified individuals who asserted they witnessed Mr. Wynn engage in a series of encounters with subordinate female employees. These subordinate employees were vulnerable to Mr. Wynn’s conduct due to their financial dependence on continued employment at resorts controlled and managed by him.”
Hearing no-show
The Control Board scheduled a hearing for Steve Wynn to address the board’s concerns, but he didn’t attend, believing that because he had resigned from his positions with the company that he was no longer subject to the board’s oversight.
Wynn, now a resident of Florida, isn’t expected to attend the commission’s July 27 meeting in Carson City. In that meeting, the five-member commission will be asked to approve the settlement, signed by Wynn, his attorney Colby Williams and Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendricks on Monday, and by Commissioner George Assad on Tuesday.
If the settlement is approved, Wynn would have three business days to transfer the $10 million fine to the Control Board.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.