Federal judge dismisses Adelson’s defamation lawsuit

A defamation lawsuit filed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson against the National Jewish Democratic Council was dismissed by a federal judge in New York City on Monday.

Adelson sued the organization last year over an article on its website that claimed he had approved of prostitution activities in his company’s Macau casinos. In his lawsuit, Adelson said the comments, “crossed the threshold from constitutionally protected speech to defamation of a public figure.”

However, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken, in dismissing the case, said the organization’s article “consisted entirely of fair reports of a judicial proceeding and constitutionally protected opinions,” according to Bloomberg News.

The prostitution allegations were raised in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by the former CEO of Las Vegas Sands operations in Macau. The case is pending trial in Clark County District Court.

Lin Wood, an attorney for Adelson, said the court acknowledged Las Vegas Sands’ policy is one of “no tolerance” for prostitution.

“(The court) referenced records establishing that there is no evidence that can be found that anyone at the company supported in anyway a different policy on this issue,” Wood said in a statement. “The statement by the National Jewish Democratic Council at issue in this case remains a boldfaced lie. We are reviewing the opinion for a likely appeal on what we believe to be an erroneous decision denying Mr. Adelson the basic right of trial by jury.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.