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US – Attorney says Nevada Board has no authority to discipline Steve Wynn

By Phil - 15 November 2019

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) is overstepping its authority in its attempts to ban Steve Wynn from the gaming industry, according to the former CEO and Founder of Wynn Resorts’ attorney.

In a filing looking to rebuke regulators’ demands, Mr. Wynn claimed there’s nothing to revoke because Wynn Resorts removed Wynn from its gaming license and he is no longer involved in the gaming industry. It highlights however that Mr. Wynn is willing to strike a agree with regulators to ‘not seek any involvement in the Nevada gaming industry in the future.’

Don Campbell, Wynn’s attorney, said in a filing: “Such a draconian concept of lifetime jurisdiction is found nowhere in the statutes or regulations relied upon by the NGCB. It is clear the Nevada legislature neither expressly nor implicitly authorised the Commission and NGCB to discipline persons who no longer have any involvement with gaming licensees.”

Mr. Campbell accused media reports of publishing ‘demonstrably false statements for which Mr. Wynn continues to pursue legal relief.’

“Confronted with the allegations in the then-nascent “#metoo” era, Mr. Wynn made the decision to resign as Chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts so that the Company he created could continue its success, and in order to ensure that Wynn Resorts’ shareholders would not suffer from the distraction that allegations of this nature might cause,” the filing says.

“Mr. Wynn continues to be willing to enter into a stipulated agreement that he will not return to Nevada’s gaming industry, and that any attempt to do so would constitute a new application for which the (Gaming Control Board) could recommend denial, and the Commission could adopt that recommendation.”

With regards to regulators’ complaints that Wynn failed to turn up to an investigatory interview, Mr. Campbell said his client visited Gaming Control Board agents in August and informed them that Wynn would cooperate with the investigation via written inquiries as he ‘was a party to a number of ongoing lawsuits seeking to vindicate his good name and he had to be vigilant about protecting and applicable privileges and work product.’

“In the end, the only goal of the instant disciplinary proceedings that has not already been achieved is the professed ability of the Commission to impose significant fines upon Mr. Wynn,” the filing said. “Nothing in the applicable statutes or regulations, however, expressly or impliedly authorises the NGCB to seek, or the Commission to impose, what essentially amounts to an exorbitant ‘exit tax’ to leave Nevada’s gaming industry.”