The long-awaited report on how the Massachusetts Gaming Commission bungled disgraced casino mogul Steve Wynn’s background check is due soon.
The public has a right to ask whether Encore Boston Harbor — now stripped of the Wynn name, with Wynn himself ousted — should keep its highly prized and lucrative casino license. Would the commission ever have awarded a casino license to a man who concealed his history of being accused of rampant sexual assault — and settling out of court for millions of dollars? Not likely.
Women spend a lot of money at casinos. In the 45-64 age bracket, women gamblers outnumber men. They have a right to ask why a suspected sexual predator was granted a license.
Wynn Resorts faced stiff competition for the exclusive right to run a casino in the Boston area. Wynn’s rivals at Suffolk Downs and Mohegan Sun’s planned Palmer site also have reason to question why his company should be allowed to keep a license won under false pretences.
Potential casino owners go through tough background checks for a reason. The business is tough and there’s a lot of money at stake. The public has a right to expect the people in charge to be trustworthy and watching out for citizens’ interests. Sex offenders don’t fit that bill.
On the other side, there is a $2.5 billion casino in Everett that is nearly complete. But that doesn’t change its ugly history.
Even though Wynn is gone from Encore, there’s doubt leftover because of the guy’s involvement in the licensing process. Did some of the people still with the company know about Wynn’s mistreatment of women, and allow it to continue? Even if all the bad apples are gone, does it matter that Encore won the license because Wynn lied? If Encore wouldn’t currently have the license without Wynn misleading the commission, should there be a do-over, so the other companies that competed have a fairer chance? Let Encore compete again too, and prove that it deserves the license notwithstanding Wynn’s past role in the company. It’s not unreasonable to put Encore through a few extra hoops at this point, to make sure its has squeezed out all the Wynn poison.
I don’t like gambling, and I don’t much care who gets the license, but Encore shouldn’t win by default. If this were a beauty contest, and the winner was forced to step down because it came out after the fact that she robbed a bank, the crown would go to the runner-up, not the bank robber’s sister.
Encore may well be the best company for the job, but there’s too much at stake to just let the issue slide. What if Wynn bred a culture of disrespect for women that’s still running through the company’s DNA? The public has a right to know.
Wendy Murphy is a Boston attorney and victims’ rights advocate