The case was brought by Angelica Limcaco, who says she blew the whistle on Steve Wynn\u2019s alleged sexual misconduct 15 years ago but was bullied into silence.<\/p>\n
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Limcaco is a former salon manager at Wynn Las Vegas. In 2005, she told senior casino management that Wynn had sexually assaulted and impregnated one of her employees at the salon. The unnamed woman\u2019s employment was abruptly terminated, and she was paid a concealed $7.5 million settlement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The settlement’s existence was later confirmed by a Massachusetts Gaming Commission investigation.<\/p>\n
Limcaco\u2019s account was the basis for a bombshell Wall Street Journal<\/em> expos\u00e9, published in January 2018, that alleged Wynn engaged in a \u201cdecades-long pattern\u201d of misconduct against female employees. The article led to Wynn\u2019s resignation and withdrawal from the casino business.<\/p>\nBut back in 2005, when Limcaco first aired her concerns, she claims she was fired and blacklisted from the gaming industry.<\/p>\n
Alleged Conspiracy<\/strong><\/h2>\nLimcaco first sued Wynn Las Vegas in 2018 in a Nevada federal court, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. But Judge Miranda Du dismissed the case in April 2020. Ruling Limcaco had not made her claim within the statute of limitations.<\/p>\n
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In that case, Elayna Youchah, Wynn’s lead counsel, was appointed a magistrate judge in US District Court in Nevada soon after she filed a motion to dismiss Limcaco\u2019s complaint. That made Youchach a colleague of the presiding judge, and she took up her new post shortly before Judge Du tossed the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This, according to Limcaco\u2019s lawyers, raised \u201cserious questions regarding the District Court\u2019s ability to remain impartial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then they discovered that Wynn Resorts had made payments to the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (LACSN) that coincided with the dismissal of the case and Youchach\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n
The executive director of LACSN is former Democratic leader of the Nevada Assembly Barbara Buckley, who\u00a0was also on the panel that selected Youchach for the magistrate position.<\/p>\n
Limcaco filed the RICO suit in California, alleging the LACSN payments were a condition of Youchach\u2019s appointment. The complaint claimed there had been a high-level conspiracy to protect Wynn Resorts\u2019 license in Massachusetts, which was then under scrutiny, by quashing a negative ruling in Nevada.<\/p>\n