Judge dismisses motions in ongoing Wynn legal battle

The saga continues in the legal battle between Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s Steve Wynn; his ex-wife and fellow board member Elaine Wynn; and Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada, who was once a major Wynn Resorts shareholder.

District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales dismissed two motions Thursday, ensuring the legal battle will stay the course.

In a case that revolves largely around U.S. foreign bribery laws, Okada accused Wynn Resorts Ltd. of contributing $135 million inappropriately to the University of Macau, where Steve Wynn plans to open his $4 billion Wynn Palace resort later this year. In response, Wynn Resorts accused Okada of inappropriately providing $110,000 in a variety of expenses to gaming regulators to secure property for a casino in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Elaine Wynn sued her ex-husband, seeking to invalidate the part of her divorce settlement that limits her ability to sell her company shares, which are worth nearly $900 million. She argues that the agreement is no longer valid because it was drafted between her former husband and Okada, who is no longer a shareholder.

Attorneys representing Wynn filed a motion to sever Elaine Wynn’s lawsuit against her ex-husband from the Okada lawsuit to set up separate trials.

“Ms. Wynn has hijacked this case for her own benefit,” attorney James Pisanelli, representing Steve Wynn, argued in court.

He said her only aim is to relitigate a divorce settlement that is “irrelevant” to the legal battle’s main focus. Pisanelli also argued that it is “unfair” to further complicate an already complicated case by making it a “character evidence trial” to “drag our name through the mud.”

In response, attorney Stephen Peek, representing Okada, said, “That is their view of the world and that is not shared by us or Ms. Wynn.”

The claims are not substantiated, he said, and represent a larger pattern of “improper board conduct” of bringing personal battles into business matters.

Peek later told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “Elaine Wynn is presenting what she believes are the same claims that we have, which is that anytime you dissent from the board, or anytime you dissent from Mr. Wynn solely, that you’re going to be punished for it.”

Gonzales rejected the motion to sever based on her desire to keep the issues before one jury when the case is expected to go to trial in 2017.

Pisanelli declined to comment.

Attorneys representing Okada also filed a motion to compel Wynn’s attorneys to remove redactions in previously shared emails between Wynn Resorts employee Jim Stern and the FBI.

Gonzales rejected the motion.

“We’re certainly somewhat disappointed but not surprised by the court’s ruling. They (Wynn’s attorneys) were able to make an earlier argument that whatever the government said to Mr. Stern is not discoverable — that did not cover the emails that Mr. Stern had between himself and the government, but now she has included that in her previous order.”

Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Find @JournalistNikki on Twitter.