The recent revelation of sexual misconduct allegations against American casino magnate Steve Wynn have reportedly prompted the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to announce that it is to review the gaming license it granted to his firm’s under-construction Wynn Boston Harbor Resort.
According to a report from CBS News, 76-year-old Wynn serves as Chief Executive Officer for Wynn Resorts Limited and resigned from his role as Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee yesterday amid allegations that he may have pressured workers to perform sexual acts.
The claims reportedly first surfaced in a Saturday story from The Wall Street Journal and include an accusation from a manicurist previously employed at the Wynn Las Vegas, that after giving Wynn a manicure he pressured her into having sex. The newspaper purportedly explained that the Las Vegas-based billionaire later paid the worker a settlement worth approximately $7.5 million.
CBS News reported that Wynn Resorts Limited began construction on its Wynn Boston Harbor Resort in 2016 and expects the $2.1 billion waterfront hotel and casino to open in June of 2019. But, this timetable could be in jeopardy after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission declared that it ‘is now aware of and is taking very seriously the troubling allegations detailed in The Wall Street Journal article’.
“The suitability and integrity of our gaming licensees is of the utmost importance and ensuring that suitability is an active and ongoing process,” reportedly read a statement from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. “Consequently, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau will conduct a regulatory review of this matter to determine the appropriate next steps.”
Due to sit on 33 acres of land along the banks of the Mystic River in the Boston suburb of Everett, the completed 29-story Wynn Boston Harbor Resort is expected to offer in excess of 620 rooms as well as a large casino with some 3,000 slots and an extensive selection of gaming tables.
After the allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn surfaced, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker reportedly explained through a spokesperson that he is ‘deeply disturbed by these allegations and expects them to be taken seriously’.
“This administration has a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment and expects the Commonwealth’s employers to create a safe work environment for all employees where reporting harassment of any kind is encouraged and properly addressed,” Brendan Moss, a spokesperson for Baker, reportedly told CBS News.
For his part, Wynn is maintaining his innocence and reportedly described the sexual assault accusations as ‘preposterous’. He purportedly moreover proclaimed that the allegations are ‘the continued work of my ex-wife Elaine Wynn’ due to the pair going through ‘a terrible and nasty lawsuit in which she is seeking a revised divorce settlement’.