Las Vegas Sands won’t get a new judge and must continue its Clark County District Court hearing over jurisdictional issues arising from the firing of a former CEO.
The Nevada Supreme Court on November 4 denied motions for a new judge and to lift sanctions against Sands China, and ordered it to continue with a Clark County District Court hearing, in which Sands China argues Nevada does not have jurisdiction over its actions.
Former Sands China President and CEO Steven Jacobs accuses Sands China, Las Vegas Sands, and CEO and Chairman Sheldon Adelson of firing him in 2010 after he refused to engage in illegal activities overseas to promote Sands China’s business interests in Macau.
Jacobs sued Sands China, Las Vegas Sands, and Adelson, whose attorneys say Clark County District Court and Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez lack jurisdiction to hear the case. Gonzalez in March sanctioned Sands China for withholding documents and barred it from calling witnesses during a jurisdictional hearing.
Because it is based in the Cayman Islands, Sands China claims Nevada does not have jurisdiction over its 2010 firing of Jacobs.
Jacobs counters that Adelson and others in Las Vegas made the decision to fire him, and Nevada is the proper venue for his wrongful termination lawsuit.
Gonzalez in May conducted a four-day evidentiary hearing, during which Adelson and other Las Vegas Sands executives took the stand as the court addressed arguments that Nevada is not the proper jurisdiction.
Sands China appealed the sanctions to the Nevada Supreme Court, and asked for a different judge, saying Gonzalez is biased, hostile, and incapable of being impartial.
The Supreme Court disagreed and on November 4 upheld a $250,000 sanction against Sands China and denied its request for another judge.
The court remanded the case back to Clark County District Court, where the jurisdictional hearings are to resume on June 27.
