“Most of the time we can’t even be honest with ourselves.”—The Commoner in Akira Kurosawa‘s Rashomon.
If at first they don’t give you a casino in Massachusetts, litigate. And when that doesn’t work, re-litigate. That’s what pouting Suffolk Downs owner Richard Fields is doing. A federal court dismissed his lawsuit against Wynn Resorts, so Fields is trying a different tack, coming at Wynn through state court. Obviously it’s too late for him to get a casino. That ship has sailed. Instead he’s trying to shake down Wynn for $1 billion. Fields’ suit focuses on the regulatory process from which Encore Boston Harbor was baptized, although it’s carefully couched in such a way as not to antagonize Bay State regulators. Fields might need them as friends in the future (he has racino ambitions).
Fields has accused Wynn in the past of racketeering. When that didn’t fly in federal court—a decision he is appealing—he narrowed his plan of attack to three prongs. One is that Wynn acted to conceal the criminal records of three individuals from whom it bought the land on which Encore stands. (Previous owner FBT Everett Realty is also being sued.) Reports the Boston Globe, Fields “claims Wynn and a few top executives violated a state law against unfair and deceptive acts and practices, in large part by withholding information from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that could have disqualified Wynn from holding a casino license.”
