Looks like Wynn Resorts’ board of directors won’t get a breather from all the bad news this month.
On Monday, a Nevada court judge overturned an earlier ruling that blocked Japanese casino mogul Kazuo Okada from pursuing the members of the Wynn Resorts board who voted to oust him from the company in 2011, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The Nevada Court’s decision came as Wynn Resorts is being rocked by a scandal involving the company’s founder Steve Wynn. Wynn, who was accused of sexual harassment, stepped down from his post as the chairman and CEO of the company late Tuesday.
Nevada District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez has finally been swayed to admit a previously sealed document into evidence, which Okada contends will prove that Wynn board members connived to remove him in November 2011.
Gonzalez, however, limited Okada’s lawsuit to those who voted to kick him out as a shareholder and director of Wynn Resorts.
The public fallout between the two self-made tycoons stemmed from Okada’s decision to sue Wynn for blocking access to financial documents related to a $135-million donation by Wynn Resorts to the University of Macau.
Each claimed the other made improper payments to foreign gaming regulators in a bid to win favor in their respective Macau and Philippine markets, and the acrimony has attracted the attention of legal regulators, investors and analysts worldwide.
Wynn stood firm that Okada went against a board decision to pursue a property in the Philippines, making him a direct competitor.
In 2012, Wynn ousted Okada from its board for “unacceptable conduct” involving alleged corruption in the Philippines.
Okada claimed that he got the boot from the company because Wynn considered him as a threat after the Japanese mogul became the biggest single shareholder while the latter saw his own stake reduced following a divorce.
