A federal appellate court panel has sided with former casino mogul Steve Wynn in his defamation lawsuit against attorney Lisa Bloom and her law firm over a news release noting allegations against Wynn.
A three-judge panel with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision to deny Bloom’s motion to dismiss Wynn’s complaint. Bloom had filed what’s known as an anti-SLAPP motion, designed to stop frivolous claims, arguing that Wynn was a “billionaire trying to silence his critics.”
Wynn filed the defamation lawsuit in response to a news release from the Bloom Firm in which Lisa Bloom said she represented “a new woman alleging sexual harassment and retaliation against Steve Wynn.”
Bloom said her client was a dancer from the show ShowStoppers at Wynn Las Vegas from late 2014 through late 2016, and was ordered to strip down “to be sexually appealing to Mr. Wynn.”
Wynn called accusations that he leered at female performers absurd, since he was legally blind at the time.
“Wynn has demonstrated a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Bloom defendants acted with actual malice in publishing the press release,” the 9th Circuit panel wrote. “Bloom defendants chose to publish the press release inculpating Wynn after learning that none of the witnesses could confirm that Wynn played any role in giving the instructions and without considering alternative explanations or investigating further.”
