California judge tosses lawsuit against Steve Wynn, executives

A California national justice has thrown retired a suit brought by a pistillate who claimed that bribery and corruption sunk a erstwhile lawsuit she brought against Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts executives.

The suit was brought by Angelica Limcaco, a erstwhile Wynn salon manager astatine the Wynn Las Vegas who claimed that she was blacklisted and intimidated into soundlessness aft reporting to her supervisors that Wynn had allegedly raped 1 of her salon workers successful 2005.

In an Oct. 29 determination to disregard the case, U.S. District Judge Ronald Lew said that Limcaco’s lawsuit lacked lasting successful the authorities of California and that the claims of bribery and corruption relied upon circumstantial grounds and “implausibly speculative assumptions.”

The California lawsuit stems from a erstwhile suit filed by Limcaco successful national tribunal successful Nevada successful September 2018 successful which she said she was fired aft reporting the intersexual battle allegations to Wynn Resorts executives. Her attorneys said successful the suit that the incidental that Limcaco reported progressive the aforesaid worker whose allegations were revealed successful a Wall Street Journal communicative published successful 2018 that claimed Wynn pressured a manicurist into enactment and aboriginal paid her a $7.5 cardinal settlement.

The Nevada lawsuit was dismissed successful April 2019 by Judge Miranda Du, who said the claims fell extracurricular of the statute of limitations.

In the California case, attorneys for Limcaco pointed to a bid of events successful an effort to overgarment a representation that Wynn Resorts utilized donations to a nonprofit instrumentality bureau arsenic a mode to power Du’s decision.

In December 2018, a sheet was convened to prime a replacement for a retiring magistrate judge. Former Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley was connected the panel. Buckley besides serves arsenic the enforcement manager of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, which had received donations from Wynn Resorts dating backmost to 2017.

Before Du’s determination came down, Wynn Resorts lawyer Elayna Youchah, who had filed astir of the briefs successful the lawsuit for the company, had been selected to capable the magistrate justice vacancy. Limcaco’s attorneys argued that Youchah being tapped for the vacancy was Buckley conspiring with Wynn Resorts.

In his bid dismissing the case, Lew seemed skeptical of the connections. He said that Limcaco’s mentation is reliant upon a “chain of causation that requires galore implausibly speculative assumptions” to nexus the payments to the determination to dismiss.

“There is nary crushed to judge the Nevada District Court would person decided the lawsuit otherwise if Defendants had disclosed their donations, oregon if Defendant had ne'er donated astatine all,” Lew wrote.

Buckley said successful a connection Monday that Lew’s dismissal was precisely the effect she expected.

“The filing was based connected fabrications that are successful stark opposition to my life-long committedness to the regularisation of law,” she said.

In a statement, Limcaco’s lawyer Jordan Matthews expressed disappointment with Lew’s determination and said attorneys program to entreaty to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Contact Colton Lochhead astatine clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead connected Twitter.