Wynn Resorts is facing renewed legal action over its handling of alleged sexual harassment by former Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn after two new lawsuits were filed in Nevada in the past week.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the most recent lawsuit, filed on Monday by nine female employees currently working at Wynn Salon or Encore Salon, alleges senior Wynn Resorts executives urged staff not to talk to media in the weeks after the allegations against Steve Wynn first emerged in January 2018, and did little to protect them from possible retaliation.
The women are seeking damages of more than US$50,000 each plus equitable relief.
“Wynn Resorts was not interested or serious about protecting its employees, and certainly not from Steve Wynn or his remaining allies in the executive ranks,” the lawsuit says. It also accuses the company of failing to remedy “the harm these years of abuse, misconduct and corporate cover-up have inflicted on many Wynn Resorts employees … ruining many lives, livelihoods and reputations.”
However, in a statement sent to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Wynn Resorts said the claims contained within the new lawsuit “appear to be those already thoroughly investigated by the special committee and regulators.”
“The company takes prompt action and addresses each and every harassment complaint it receives,” the statement reads. “Since the completion of the investigation by the special committee and regulators, the company has received no complaints of the nature described in the lawsuit other than the allegation in this lawsuit which was promptly investigated. The company immediately followed all appropriate procedures to address the matter.”
This week’s lawsuit follows a class action suit filed late last week against both Wynn Resorts and Steve Wynn alleging the company “continues to outwardly support defendant Wynn through memorandums and its employees, which is calculated to deter female employees from cooperating or liberating themselves from forced sexual servitude and a sexually hostile environment.”
The original allegations leveled against Steve Wynn saw him step down in February 2018 and sell his entire 12.1% stake in the company. His departure sparked widespread changes to the Wynn Resorts board with six new directors appointed over the past 12 months, of which four are women.
