GGRAsia – 9 salon staff settle sex harassment case vs Wynn Las Vegas

9 salon staff settle sex harassment case vs Wynn Las Vegas

Sep 07, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Nine women salon workers who had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in 2019 against the Wynn Resorts casino group, have reached a settlement with Wynn Resorts Ltd and Wynn Las Vegas LLC, reported on Wednesday media in the United States.

The women, who have not been identified in public, being referred to instead as “Judy Does Nos 1-9”, claimed according to documents cited by media, that they were subjected to years of sex discrimination by Wynn Resorts because the business group “facilitated, enabled, covered up and tolerated” alleged misconduct and past sexual harassment by Steve Wynn, the founding chairman and founding chief executive of the group.

Mr Wynn stepped down from his roles with the group in February 2018, and shortly after sold his interest in the business. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.

According to U.S. District Court documents cited by news outlets on Wednesday, the terms of the Wynn Resorts group’s settlement with the nine women were not disclosed. The settlement was reportedly filed on Tuesday.

The Wynn Resorts group had declined to comment on the matter, according to reports. Wynn Resorts Ltd is the parent of Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd.

In other developments, lawyers for Mr Wynn argued on Wednesday in the Nevada Court of Appeals that he had been wrongly denied a jury trial in a defamation suit.

Mr Wynn sued Jorgen Nielsen, a former artistic director of salons at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas, in Nevada in the U.S., for defamation in 2018. Mr Nielsen had alleged in a newspaper article that the casino entrepreneur sexually harassed female employees for decades.

In July this year it was announced that Mr Wynn was to pay US$10 million to end a legal battle with gambling regulators in Nevada, that started with claims of his alleged sexual misconduct in the workplace. Mr Wynn did not admit any wrongdoing in relation to that settlement.