Ex Wife of Casino Mogul is Trying to 'Smear My Reputation,' Says Wynn GC
Kim Sinatra is pushing back against Elaine Wynn's testimony that Sinatra failed to properly address a rape allegation involving a hotel employee and the company's former CEO, Steve Wynn.
March 29, 2018 at 01:55 PM
3 minute read
Kim Sinatra. Courtesy photo.
Kim Sinatra, the general counsel of Wynn Resorts whose name has been dragged into the spotlight during recent litigation, is denying she was aware of a rape allegation leveled against the company's former CEO Steve Wynn.
Elaine Wynn, the former CEO's ex-wife and a past member of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts' board of directors, testified in a Nevada court Wednesday that, nine years ago, she informed Sinatra of an allegation of a 2005 sexual assault against an employee by Steve Wynn. The CEO resigned last month amid claims of sexual misconduct.
In Elaine Wynn's testimony, as reported by Time, she said she told Sinatra back in 2009 that she had received information alleging that an assault had taken place. Wynn testified that Sinatra's response was that the matter “had been discussed by attorneys and that it was deemed not to have been an issue of concern for the company, that it had been handled personally, and therefore, it had been resolved.”
Sinatra, who has served as Wynn Resorts' GC since 2004, released a statement Wednesday, following the court proceedings, disputing the testimony.
“I disagree vehemently with Elaine Wynn's testimony,” Sinatra said in the statement. “My recollection, which is clear, is that at no time did Elaine Wynn ever tell me that there was an allegation of rape against Steve Wynn.”
Sinatra continued, “In the relevant conversation in which she promised to destroy Steve Wynn and said she didn't care if that reduced the company's stock price to zero in the process, Elaine Wynn made an oblique reference to a settlement, and nothing more. Elaine Wynn has repeatedly used the broad protection of the litigation privilege to unjustly smear my reputation.”
Sinatra did not respond for further comment beyond the prepared statement.
Attorneys for Elaine Wynn, Mark Ferrario of Greenberg Traurig and Daniel Polsenberg of Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, did not immediately respond for comment.
Tuesday's testimony from Elaine Wynn is not the first time she has accused Wynn's top lawyer of turning a “blind eye” to misconduct. In a March 2016 court filing in the same ongoing case brought by a former shareholder, Wynn Resorts Ltd. v Kazuo Okada, Wynn accused Sinatra of acting as a “co-conspirator” with Steve Wynn.
Elaine Wynn alleged at the time that, when she raised questions about her ex-husband's business decisions and judgment, the two “rebuffed her and retaliated against her.”
Sinatra has denied these allegations of covering up misconduct since they arose two years ago. In response to Elaine Wynn's claims in the court filings, a spokesperson for Sinatra told Corporate Counsel at the time: “The allegations are baseless and entirely without merit.”
According to AP, this week's hearing in Clark County District Court in the yearslong litigation was intended to show that Elaine Wynn reported the company's wrongdoing.
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