The beginning of this year saw the revelation of scandalous allegations regarding sexual misconduct involving the name of Wynn Resorts’ CEO Steve Wynn which had been taking place in the past. Now, several months after the initial information was unearthed, the Wall Street Journal reveals more details surrounding the investigation process through which some of the employees of the casino developer have been put in.
It all began at the end of January when sexual misconduct allegations were first reported by the daily newspaper, suddenly taking the industry by storm. The rapid turn of events was later qualified as one of the largest scandals in the field for the past years, bringing more and more negative hits on the reputation of the international casino developer. This, in turn, led to the eventual loss of a considerable amount of money as well as a significant drop in the share prices of Wynn Resorts.
Investors and shareholders at the company raised the questions which everyone was asking, doubting the very core values of the casino operator and the way Mr. Wynn conducted his business throughout the years. The reason for that stemmed from the fact that according to the information issued leading board members at the casino operator were aware of the misconducts taking place within the developer and regardless of that took no actions to prevent them from happening.
The said allegations were dated to 2006. This was also the main reason why Mr. Wynn’s former wife Elaine Wynn, who is currently the largest shareholder in Wynn Resorts gave green light to a battle striving to oust John Jay Hagenbuch from the company.
Ms. Wynn claimed that the Board of Directors should undergo major changes and that fresh blood should be introduced to the gaming developer since most of the Board members were friends and supporters of Mr. Wynn. Prior to the annual meeting of the casino operator on 16th May, Mr. Hagenbuch filed his resignation.
Investigation Continues to this Day
Now the Wall Street Journal provides new insight into the investigation process against Wynn Resorts which is still in progress led by the authorities. It should be taken into account that Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission were conducting independent inspections of the previous operation of the developer.
Former workers previously employed by Wynn Resorts claimed that the process of investigation featured some details which threatened to put them in an unfavorable position. A total of 114 people were questioned over the span of the investigation up until the annual meeting in May.
For example, the people conducting the investigation and the interrogation process informed employees that board members will receive detailed notice including the names of the testifying employees. In response to that, the committee stated that witness information is treated confidentially.
People who are working on the premises of Wynn Resorts venues have never received a thorough instruction regarding the ways in which they could report sexual misconducts instances to the authorities and the first time this information was given to them was a couple of months after the scandal was first reported publicly.
There have also been instances in which employees had their investigation questioning taking place at the casino venue, instead of at a more appropriate location. The detailed look through Wynn Resorts continues to this day and the main objective of it is to unearth any information whether or not individuals had been aware of the alleged sexual misconducts and have done nothing to prevent them from happening again.
