The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC)
filed a motion on Tuesday to dismiss Boston’s 152-page lawsuit, describing it as “verbose, repetitive, argumentative, and confusing.”
Commissioners asked the state judge in charge of the lawsuit to dismiss the suit as it did not comply with state requirements for such legal documents to be brief but comprehensive.
The suit, which was filed in October by Boston officials including Mayor Martin Walsh, accused the MGC of giving preferential treatment to Wynn Resorts’ $1.6-billion project, which beat out Mohegan Sun for the lone Boston-area casino license in September.
Walsh spokeswoman Bonnie McGilpin said that the city administration might seek an injunction to block construction of the property. She also pointed out that the city remains open to discussions about the impact of a casino on local residents.
According to the lawsuit, the MGC made a number of decisions that favored the Everett project. In addition, the MGC neglected matters such as the criminal history of one of the former proprietors of the site where the Wynn casino is to be located.
Last week, the city administration amended the suit, calling for a new licensing process that would exclude the current members of the commission.
“The commission’s award of the license was the product of a corrupt process to favor Wynn,” the lawsuit stated. “Their conduct has irreparably tainted the gaming licensing process, and has demonstrated that they are unwilling and unable to fulfill their legal obligations to serve as independent regulators.”
In September, Wynn Resorts was awarded a casino license for a multi-million hotel and casino property in Everett. If completed, the hotel and casino venue is to feature more than 500 hotel rooms, restaurants, convention area, and numerous retail options. The casino floor will offer 3,000 slot machines and 150 table games to visitors.
“The commission made each license award based solely on a thoughtful, objective and exhaustive evaluation of each gaming proposal,” said MGC Spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.
