The results of an investigation by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission of Wynn Resorts begun shortly after Steve Wynn resigned from the company that bears his name due to sexual misconduct allegations and ended all ties to it, could publish its findings near the end of the year. The document is expected to be several hundred pages long.
The commission will use the investigation into the continued suitability of Wynn to operate the $2.4 billion casino it is building in Everett to decide to decide whether it will keep its license. Wynn has consistently insisted that he has never done anything improper.
Executive Director Edward Bedrosian told the commission last week, “Once the report is complete, there are a few more procedural steps before an actual hearing and the report will be made public.” He added, “First, the commissioners individually will be provided a copy of the report along with the exhibits. We anticipate that will consist of hundreds of pages of documents.”
The report, including all of the supporting materials, will also be delivered to Wynn Resorts.
The investigators and Wynn will each make presentations to the commission, which will decide the company’s fate in the Bay State.
Bedrosian continued, “It would be at the beginning of the actual hearing the report, with any redactions, will be made public. With all that in mind, I anticipate and hope that we can have any pre-hearing motions, again if any, heard some time in November with the actual hearing happening sometime the first two weeks of December.”
The investigators have been looking at not only Wynn’s conduct, but how the company’s executives dealt with it. Including the very important aspect of whether they deliberately hid the former casino mogul’s conduct form the commission at the time when it originally decided the company’s suitability for a license in 2014.
A bombshell article by the Wall Street Journal in January brought down Wynn’s dominance of the company when it wrote of “decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct” and a pay-off of $7.5 million by Wynn to a manicurist who accused him of attempted rape. This incident and payment were not disclosed as part of the licensing process.
The investigation is headed by Karen Wells, who commented earlier this year, “A central question is, what did the board of directors and staff know and when did they know it, about the settlement and the associated allegations.” That question has been echoed by other commissioners, including former Chairman Stephen Crosby, who before he resigned several weeks ago emphasized that it was important for both the commission and the public to know the answer. Crosby resigned because of criticism that he could not impartially decide this issue.
In August Bedrosian reported that investigators were entering the final phase of the probe. The panel anticipated beginning public hearings in September, then learned that the investigators needed more time to tie up all the ends.
Once the commission has heard presentations, including under oath statements, and any questions it chooses to ask participants, it will go into closed session to make its decision. Attorneys for Wynn will also be permitted to ask questions of witnesses.
The panel could, if it chooses, take away the license from Wynn, forcing it to sell the Encore Boston Harbor to some other entity.
MGM Springfield
The MGM Springfield Career Center is relocating its operations to the MGM Springfield administrative building on 95 State Street. At the moment it offers information on more than two dozen current job openings.
It has operated at the Colvest Building on East Columbia Avenue for more than a year. In that location it helped fill 3,000 positions for the $960 million casino. Now its task is considerably less challenging, and so it can be handled in the administrative building.
Vice President of Human Resources Marikate Murren commented, “We are excited to be moving closer to the daily activity on property.” She added, “There continues to be many promising career opportunities at MGM Springfield, and we look forward to working with enthusiastic job seekers at our new location.”
The career center will offer hiring services, interviews, licensing and training. It even provides computers to possible employees to build their career profile and interview rooms. It also provides an office to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to assist in licensing employees.
The Center is open two days a week.
