Continuing legal disputes between major Vegas gaming operators, Fontainebleau Las Vegas and Wynn Las Vegas (WLV), first initiated in the last week of February. At that point, Wynn initiated legal proceedings against Fontainebleau, accusing them of employee poaching at senior levels by proposing more attractive employment incentives, inducing them to abandon their roles in Wynn.
In a recent development in the legal conflict, Fontainebleau opposed a preliminary injunction motion submitted by Wynn earlier this month, signalizing an upsurge in their legal confrontation. Fontainebleau Las Vegas expressed its objection to the intervention request from Wynn via their recent Clark County District Court filing. Wynn’s motion requested the court to interfere and restrain Fontainebleau from causing future interferences in their employee relations.
However, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Fontainebleau was in disagreement with the preliminary injunction motion. They argued that the court has no jurisdiction to implement this injunction as it lacks the rights to enforce such extensive injunctions. The defense of Fontainebleau stated: “It would be challenging for this court to find a more non-viable preliminary injunction motion than the one submitted by plaintiff Wynn Las Vegas, LLC.”
Furthermore, Fontainebleau pointed out: “WLV requests a broad preventative injunction that assumes every employment restraint it has ever entered into is valid and protected by Nevada law.” They contend that in spite of Wynn’s bold assertions, they have yet to present any contractual terms to the court. According to Fontainebleau, this puts into question the legitimacy of both old and new contracts.
The Breaking Point
At the end of February, Fontainebleau attempted to recruit one of Wynn’s employees, Wayne Crane, a senior figure within Wynn Nightlife. Attempting to retain Crane, Wynn executives offered him enhanced remuneration to reject Fontainebleau’s proposal. Despite this, Crane chose to stay with Wynn, which took this as a “final breaking point,” leading to the filing of a legal complaint against Fontainebleau.
Fontainebleau has refuted this narrative, introducing its version of events as part of its legal defense. They clarified that Wayne Crane’s spouse, Merina Crane, who formerly worked at Fontainebleau in Miami, Florida, and later at Encore Beach Club, was recruited by Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. Upon her employment, Wayne Crane considered moving to Fontainebleau to join her.
However, after a higher salary offer, he chose to remain at Wynn. Nonetheless, Fontainebleau argued that the executive had reservations that Wynn would initiate legal proceedings against him had he decided to move to Fontainebleau.
