Casino mogul Steve Wynn has agreed to a $10 million settlement that effectively bans the man who helped shape today's Las Vegas from ever taking part in its businesses again, bringing a close to a yearslong legal battle over workplace sexual misconduct allegations.
The settlement, accepted Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Commission, includes the largest fine ever imposed against an individual by the commission and its second highest ever, falling second to the $20 million Wynn's former company paid in 2019 after admitting to ignoring its employees' misconduct complaints.
While the 81-year-old resigned as Wynn Resorts CEO shortly after allegations were published in 2018, the settlement forever bars him from being involved, either directly or indirectly, with any Nevada gambling company's financing, advertising or consultation. It does, however, allow him to have passive financial investments of up to 5% into companies involved in the state's gambling industry.
The settlement's terms allow Wynn to neither admit nor deny any wrongdoing, though he has consistently denied the claims since 2018.
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That year, The Wall Street Journal published an article detailing dozens of employee accounts alleging Wynn's sexual misconduct. The publication noted a "pattern" wherein casino managers enabled Wynn's alleged behavior, including one instance when a 23-year-old spa attendant claimed supervisors chastised her after the magnate allegedly sexually assaulted her the day before. Wynn later paid the manicurist a $7.5 million settlement, Wall Street Journal reported.
He resigned from Wynn Resorts months later and sold his remaining stake while continuing to deny the accounts, telling WSJ, "The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous."
The Nevada Gaming Control Board, which serves as the commission's investigatory body, filed a complaint in 2019 alleging Wynn's failure to prevent the incidents had cast a negative light on the state and gaming industry's reputations. It said Wynn was "unsuitable to be associated with a gaming enterprise or the gaming industry as a whole."
Wynn signed the settlement last week when the board filed it. This finally ended the long dispute, even though his attorneys had initially countered saying he wasn't subject to the board's jurisdiction after leaving his company.
If Wynn ever violates the settlement's terms, he could face further fines.
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