Fontainebleau Objects to Wynn’s Injunction Plea in Poaching Lawsuit

The legal battle between two leading gaming operators in Las Vegas, Fontainebleau Las Vegas and Wynn Las Vegas (WLV), started late in February. At the time, Wynn filed a lawsuit, claiming that Fontainebleau poached its senior-level employees, offering them different employment incentives and encouraging them to leave their positions with the company.

In the latest chapter of the legal fight, Fontainebleau challenged a preliminary injunction motion filed by Wynn earlier this month as the legal battle between the duo escalated. Last week, Fontainebleau Las Vegas expressed its opposition to Wynn’s request via a filing with the Clark County District Court on Friday. Wynn’s motion effectively asked the court to intervene and prevent attempts by Fontainebleau from future disruptions in its relationships with its employees.

However, as announced by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Fontainebleau disagreed with the motion for a preliminary injunction, arguing that the court cannot intervene in the process as it doesn’t have the authority to enforce a blanket injunction.  The operator’s defense explained: “This court would be hard pressed to find a more untenable motion for preliminary injunction than that filed by plaintiff Wynn Las Vegas, LLC.”

Additionally, Fontainebleau stated: “WLV requests a sweeping prophylactic injunction which presupposes that each and every restrictive employment covenant it has ever entered into is valid and protected under Nevada law.” The operator argued that Wynn makes bold claims despite not presenting any contract terms in front of the court. This, according to Fontainebleau, questions the validity of both past and present contracts.

The Last Straw

Late in February, Fontainebleau made an attempt to hire one of Wynn’s employees, Wayne Crane, who is a part of the senior leadership at Wynn Nightlife. Wynn then attempted to keep Crane after company executives met with the employee and offered him better pay in order to refuse Fontainebleau’s proposal. In the end, Crane remained with Wynn, but the company said that this was the “last straw” and filed its legal claim against Fontainebleau.

Fontainebleau rejected this theory, presenting its own version of the story as a part of its defense last week. The company explained that Crane’s wife, Merina Crane, who was formerly a part of Fontainebleau in Miami, Florida and used to work at Encore Beach Club, was hired by Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. Once this happened, Wayne Crane considered transitioning to Fontainebleau to join his wife.

Yet, once he was offered higher pay he remained with Wynn. Still, Fontainebleau claimed that the executive had fears that Wynn would file a lawsuit against him had he transitioned to Fontainebleau.