Las Vegas Casino Titan Steve Wynn Accused Of Pressuring Employees To Perform Sex Acts: WSJBillionaire Businessman Denies Claims In Statement To WSJ |
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One of the most prominent men in the Las Vegas casino industry allegedly engaged in a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.
The Wall Street Journal reported that billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, paid a former manicurist a $7.5 million settlement stemming from an alleged 2005 incident where he coerced her into having sex with him in his office at his company’s flagship casino. Wynn denied the allegation in a statement, calling it “preposterous.”
“We find ourselves in a world where people can make allegations, regardless of the truth, and a person is left with the choice of weathering insulting publicity or engaging in multi-year lawsuits," the 75-year-old said. "It is deplorable for anyone to find themselves in this situation.”
The WSJ said it “contacted” more than 150 people who worked with Wynn. According to the paper, “dozens” were able to “recount” a long history of misconduct.
“Most of those who spoke to the Journal about Mr. Wynn said they worried that doing so could hurt their ability to work elsewhere because of his influence in the casino industry and the state,” the Journal wrote in the article by-lined by four journalists.
“Former employees said their awareness of Mr. Wynn’s power in Las Vegas, combined with the knowledge that the jobs they held were among the best-paying available there, added up to a feeling of dependence and intimidation when Mr. Wynn made requests of them.”
Some former employees alleged that his German shepherds, which he sometimes had in his office at Wynn Las Vegas, bolstered the intimidation.
Other allegations include him pressuring a massage therapist to touch his genitals, asking a former executive to provide him with phone numbers of cocktail waitresses, and walking around the casino with “short shorts without underwear” that allowed his genitals to be exposed.
The Journal reported that former employees claim that some of them would hide in bathrooms or back rooms to avoid Wynn when he was spending time at his casino.
The report, published Friday, was followed by shares of the company falling more than eight percent. Wynn founded the firm in 2002 during a wave of casino development on the Strip.
Wynn Resorts announced earlier this week that it’s planning a new hotel on the Strip.
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