The fate of Wynn Resorts’ Massachusetts casino project won’t be known until the new year thanks to a Nevada judge’s scheduling decision.
On Thursday, Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez set a January 4, 2019 date for hearing arguments on whether to permit the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) to publicly release its report into what Wynn Resorts execs knew about former chairman Steve Wynn’s sexual harassment allegations while the company was pursuing its Massachusetts license.
In late November, Gonzalez granted Steve a temporary restraining order preventing the MGC from releasing its report, based on Steve’s claim that his former company improperly shared information with the MGC that Steve maintains was protected by attorney-client privilege.
Depending on its contents, the MGC report could result in Wynn Resorts being declared unsuitable to operate its in-development $2.5b Encore Boston Harbor project, which is slated to open its doors next summer. Rival firms have already offered to take over the project in the event that the report relegates Wynn to the sin bin.
Whenever the MGC releases its report, in whatever edited form the court permits, Wynn Resorts is reportedly preparing an all-star team to plead the company’s case. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that all 10 current directors of Wynn’s board may be on hand to field MGC questions at the adjudicatory hearing that could follow as soon as next month.
Wynn’s board has undergone significant shuffling since the allegations against Steve became public knowledge last January. Six of its members were only appointed this year, and four of these new members are women. Marshalling Wynn’s ‘new & improved’ board in this manner is reportedly intended to show the MGC that the company is not the same old boys’ club it once was.
