Wynn Resorts Seeks Dismissal of New Employee Lawsuit

Posted on: September 19, 2022, 04:06h. 

Last updated on: September 19, 2022, 05:31h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

Wynn Resorts responded today to a lawsuit filed on Sept. 1 by Brenna Schrader, one of its employees, against the company and several former employees.

Wynn
Wynn Resorts responded today to a Sept. 1 lawsuit from one of its current employees. The suit is related to the harassment allegations that ended the casino career of the company’s former founder and CEO, and resulted in record fines against the company by gaming regulators. (Image: YouTube)

Schrader is a Wynn Resorts massage therapist who claims Steve Wynn forced her to act as an “on-call sexual servant” while he was the company’s CEO. Her most recent lawsuit against Wynn Resorts alleged that the company continues, to this day, to create a hostile work environment and retaliate against her for seeking justice against her victimizer. Schrader is also a plaintiff in an ongoing federal class action lawsuit filed in 2019 against Wynn and Wynn Resorts.

Wynn Resorts emailed Casino.org a copy of its motion to dismiss.

“The plaintiff reasserts a meritless Nevada RICO claim that was already rejected by the US District Court for the District of Nevada on March 31, 2022. Rather than seek to amend her complaint, or appeal that dismissal, plaintiff re-filed … in this court and then apparently sought out the press to garner attention for her latest filing, as if it contained new claims or recent allegations. It does not,” the filing states.

A Different Wynn Resorts

In a statement accompanying its motion to dismiss, Wynn Resorts said it would “defend itself in this and any action that attempts to cast the company today with a light of the past.”

It explained that, since the sexual harassment accusations against Steve Wynn were first made in a career-destroying 2018 Wall Street Journal article, it “has made tremendous strides in reforming the organization through a reconstituted board of directors, refreshed executive team, new human resources policies and training, and a world-class corporate governance program.”

The company’s statement explained that those strides included separating Steve Wynn from all company operations, coordinating the sale of all his company stock, and prohibiting him from visiting the corporation’s premises.

Wynn Outlines Actions Taken

According to the statement, it appointed seven new directors to its board and terminated five legacy directors. It also established an independent compliance committee composed of four experts in the fields of regulatory compliance, law enforcement, and human resources. They are independent of the company and the board of directors.

“These remedial actions taken by the Company since 2018 were favorably received by our regulators in both Nevada and Massachusetts,” read Wynn Resorts’ statement. This is a passing reference to the $20 million fine Wynn Resorts received from the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2019 for failing to investigate the claims of Steve Wynn’s sexual misconduct before he resigned.

It also refers to the $35 million fine it received from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that same year for failing to disclose a $7.5 million settlement paid in 2005 to the woman who claimed Steve Wynn raped her.

“The company’s actions since 2018 have helped to create the culture of respect and inclusion that the company enjoys today,” the company’s statement continued. “We are proud of our past work in this area and work every single day to continue it.”

Steve Wynn has repeatedly asserted that he never harassed or sexually assaulted anyone. Since quitting the casino business, he has reinvented himself as a Florida-based art dealer.