Nevada Supreme Court rejects effort to remove judge from Las Vegas Sands Corp. case
CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez may continue to preside over a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Sands Macau executive Steven Jacobs against the Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Nationally known attorney Alan Dershowitz, representing Sands, had challenged Clark County Chief Judge David Barker’s recent denial of the company’s motion to assign the case to a different judge. Sands has argued that Gonzalez has treated the company unfairly over the six-year course of the lawsuit, which is scheduled for trial next month.
But in a unanimous ruling late Wednesday, all four justices who heard oral arguments last month said they found nothing in the record to support the contention that Barker abused his discretion in denying the motion to disqualify Gonzalez.
Dershowitz had argued that Barker didn’t give enough attention to Sands’ contention that Gonzalez had acted improperly and showed bias against the company during a brief interview with Time magazine in January.
A Time reporter had asked Gonzalez about revelations that a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter was ordered by the newspaper’s then-owner, GateHouse Media, to monitor her activities while GateHouse was finalizing the paper’s sale to the family of Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Time quoted the judge as saying she wasn’t concerned about having reporters in her courtroom. In a subsequent affidavit she said she did not otherwise discuss the Sands case with Time.
Barker in January ruled that Sands presented no evidence that Gonzalez “has actual bias or implied bias either in favor of or against any party to this action.”
Dershowitz said Barker erred in not holding a hearing on the issue, but the Supreme Court said Barker followed established Nevada law.
Las Vegas Sands spokesman Ron Reese declined comment on the ruling.
The Review-Journal is owned by a limited liability company controlled by the Adelson family, majority owners of Las Vegas Sands.
Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Find @seanw801 on Twitter.
