Firm gives Mass. agency favorable report on Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts Ltd. received generally favorable remarks from a law firm hired by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to monitor CEO Matt Maddox and his executive team after the state’s regulators ordered additional oversight after the company’s 2018 sexual harassment scandal.

And the company is paying dearly for it.

The firm billed Wynn Resorts $830,000 for six months of work as of February after receiving an estimate expenses would be between $575,000 and $775,000. A commission spokeswoman said the amount is still within 15 percent of the total amount agreed upon as allowed in the commission’s contract.

Representatives of Washingtonbased Miller & Chevalier Chartered spent nearly 2½ hours reviewing findings with the commission Thursday and issued a 127-page report on the company’s efforts to revamp harassment policies and make them widely available to the company’s workforce in Las Vegas,

Lots of gloves

The entire staff decided to wear gloves, which must be changed between tasks.

“It’s a lot of gloves,” she said, “but it’s what we opted to do to keep everyone safe.”

Juan Vazquez, owner of Juan’s Flaming Fajitas at 9640 W. Tropicana Ave. in Las Vegas and 16 S. Water St. in Henderson, said gloves are mandatory for back-of-the-house staff and for runners, who have the most contact with food.

Vazquez said the only snag he has encountered is that some people don’t understand reservations are necessary because of social distancing requirements, and walk-ins can’t queue up inside and outside his door, as they have in the past.

“They come in and they expect to be seated, and we can’t,” he said.

Delivery charges

Jeff Ecker, president of Paymon’s Mediterranean Cafe at 8380 W. Sahara Ave. and 8955 S. Eastern Ave., said he has separated bussers from runners, so there is no possibility of cross-contamination. Increased takeout has helped augment the 50 percent capacity in his dining rooms, but it also can hurt, he said, when delivery companies take anywhere from 25 to 32 percent.

“That kind of puts a dent in things,” Ecker said.

James Trees, owner of Esther’s Kitchen at 1130 S. Casino Center Blvd., said he has tailored his menu to the products he knows he can get consistently.

Masks have been a bit of a problem, he said.

“A lot of people use people’s lips to listen to them talk,” Trees said. “So that’s been an issue. In the kitchen, we’re having to rotate cooks in and out of the stations because of the heat.”

Trees said lower capacity limits have led to a wider range of reservation times.

“People are finally not complaining about a 10:15 reservation,” he said. “So it’s actually super helpful.”

Strip location unclear

Kris Parikh, who owns Mint Indian Bistro at 730 E. Flamingo Road and 4246 S. Durango Drive and Divine Dosa & Biryani at 3049 Las Vegas Blvd. South, has opened the first two but is holding off on the Strip spot until he sees what the casinos do and when Strip traffic resumes.

“If casinos are at 25 percent (capacity), it’s going to be really tough for restaurants like ours to open up and basically spend money, digging a deeper hole,” he said. “That’s what’s keeping me awake.”

He said that while the Durango location is doing “decently well,” he is thinking of limiting the Mint on Flamingo to maybe four days a week, including weekends.

“Anything very close to the Strip right now, I’m very skeptical for the next three months,” Parikh said.

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474. Follow @Hkrinella on Twitter.