Call for Crosby to recuse himself
Lawyers for Mohegan Sun are calling for state Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby to recuse himself from the commission’s upcoming decision on Wynn Resorts’ suitability to retain its Boston-area casino license.
“Chairman Crosby’s recent public endorsement of Wynn Resorts’ culture and ‘changed sensibility,’ and his decision that Mr. Wynn’s sexual harassment conduct had nothing to do with the climate at Wynn nor its lack of corporate controls, made before he has heard any evidence on these issues, cast greater doubt on the impartiality of the proceedings,” Kenneth Leonetti, a lawyer representing Mohegan Sun, said in a letter to a commission lawyer obtained by the Herald. “Chairman Crosby must therefore be disqualified.”
The letter refers to comments made by Crosby to reporters on Sept. 13: “This whole #metoo thing and all the horrible transgressions that have come about by powerful men has changed everybody’s sensibility. And I’m sure Wynn’s sensibilities, Wynn Resorts’ sensibilities, have changed, too.”
Leonetti’s letter states: “The fact that the chairman of a public body could make such statements while an investigation is ongoing, before the Commission has heard any evidence or taken a position, is shocking, to say the least.”
Mohegan Sun is in the midst of a legal battle, arguing the Gaming Commission was improperly biased toward Wynn Resorts when it originally awarded the company the gaming license.
Crosby eventually recused himself from those deliberations after information about a business relationship between Crosby and a landowner who would profit from a Wynn casino came out, and allegedly improper contact between Crosby and Wynn officials was reported.
A spokeswoman for the Gaming Commission declined to comment on Mohegan Sun’s demand.