A large party held in a hotel suite at Encore Boston Harbor earlier this month has the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) taking action to prevent further incidents. The Wynn Resorts property saw more than 100 people gather from August 17-18 in violation of standing coronavirus protection orders, and many of those in attendance were reportedly not wearing face masks as required. Even after an employee raised the alarm, it took an additional three hours for the casino to take action.
The late-night party reportedly attracted more than 110 people, well above the current cap of 25 Massachusetts now has in place for indoor gatherings. A butler at the property is said to have informed casino higher-ups of the issue, but the response time was much longer than necessary. Word got out to the MGC, which discussed the issue when it met last Thursday. According to MGC Chair Cathy Judd-Stein, “What was most egregious for me was that happened, and our licensee got notice over three hours. And at least one employee, the butler, did exactly the right thing and went and notified his fellow employees to have action taken.”
As a result, the MGC has already awarded Encore Boston Harbor a notice of non-compliance, and the property has acknowledged that it is working more diligently to prevent similar incidents in the future. It now limits hotel rooms to a maximum of four people, and a maximum of eight in a hotel suite. Bruce Ban, the assistant director of the MGC Investigations and Enforcement Bureau, explains, “They’re getting this under control. Encore seems to be holding fast to their new rules, really sticking to their guns.”
Since the incident, Encore has already kicked out a number of guests for breaking the rules – eight rooms in total were forced to be vacated. The individuals who had rented the rooms have been fined by the MGC, and a number of other pending reservations at the property’s hotel have been canceled. For the August 17 party that started all the commotion, the renter of the room received a $3,000 fine from Encore and a $500 fine and a disorderly conduct violation from the state. The MGC is weighing the possibility of issuing all who attended the party a $500 fine.
By now, it should be blatantly obvious to everyone that large gatherings are prime breeding grounds for the coronavirus, and it shouldn’t take the threat of a fine to keep them from happening. However, there will always be those who, for one reason or another, like to irresponsibly flaunt the rules. For those that now try to act up at Encore, they’ll get an extra bonus for their efforts. The casino has announced that it will issue fines of $3,000 to the organizers of any event that breaks COVID-19 health protocols, and could also request that charges be brought against them.
