The last couple of days have not been kind to those who would like to see a casino built in the Boston area. First, of course, was Sunday’s front-page above-the-fold blockbuster about Everett Mayor and Wynn Casino Booster-In-Chief Carlo DeMaria, who it turns out has been accused on numerous occasions of conduct that, if proven, would go beyond sexual harassment and verge on assault. The accusations, as reported by the Globe, come from four different women – and there are probably others – who seem to have little to do with one another (other than that a couple of them worked at Honey Dew Donut shops that DeMaria owns), and who have no discernible connection to the anti-casino movement (despite DeMaria’s almost-laughable suggestion that these accusations have been cranked up by those who don’t want a casino in Everett). And the accusations are ugly.
[S]he felt his hand on her thigh. The woman said she tried to get DeMaria to focus on the support program, but when she stood up, he wrapped his arms around her and groped her breast.
“He tried kissing me, all slobbery,” she said. “It was hard and aggressive.”
…
[Janice] Campo told police in 2005 that DeMaria had ordered her to remove her uniform top while they were alone in the Revere store and, when she refused, DeMaria pulled out scissors and suggested that he cut off the shirt, claiming he had medical training. He eventually “pulled down his pants, exposing his penis,” according to the police report. Later, after DeMaria had pulled his pants back up, he pulled on the woman’s right wrist “until her hand was placed against his penis,” according to the police report.
…
DeMaria lured [the first woman] into his private office under the pretext of looking at some rugs he had just purchased. Again, she said, DeMaria closed the door, began squeezing her breasts, and told her how beautiful she was.
…
[A different] woman told the Globe recently that, from the start of her city job, DeMaria called her to his office for no apparent reason, sometimes getting uncomfortably close and making inappropriate remarks.
“I was sitting there and DeMaria said, ‘You know, the only reason you got hired was that you have nice [breasts],’” the former employee recalled. “I didn’t really acknowledge what he said, but I left just as soon as I could.”
On another occasion, she said DeMaria tried to console her in the small private room behind his office after she had a heated dispute with a more senior employee over her job responsibilities — a dispute that left her afraid she might lose her job.
She had gone through the room to use an adjoining restroom, she said, and DeMaria was waiting for her when she emerged. She said she recalls him saying, “You can do no wrong in my eyes if you [provide oral sex.]’ …”
You get the idea. Needless to say, DeMaria flatly denies each and every allegation, and there is no objective proof, though there is some corroboration from others. Read the whole thing, and see what you think. But this, combined with DeMaria’s connections to some dubious characters involved with the proposed Wynn site, and his bizarre proposal to take the site by eminent domain as a way of cleansing the property of its problematic ownership history, would seem to give the Gaming Commission an awful lot to think about as they mull over who gets the Boston license.
Not to be outdone, though, today’s paper reports that Mohegan Sun, who would like to build a casino at Suffolk Downs in East Boston Revere, appears to have acted in violation of an agreement that they had at the time with the owner of land in Palmer. The agreement prohibited Mohegan Sun from discussing a casino anywhere in MA except Palmer, but it turns out that the day after the Palmer referendum failed, Mohegan Sun was in communication with Suffolk Downs, even though the agreement was not terminated until two weeks later, after a recount confirmed that, indeed, Palmer had rejected the casino proposal.
Is the Mohegan Sun revelation merely a matter of i’s being dotted and t’s being crossed improperly? Maybe; at the end of the day, there was not going to be a casino in Palmer. Still, Mohegan Sun’s apparent failure to abide by the plain terms of an agreement certainly seems a relevant consideration for the Gaming Commission – and, indeed, it goes directly to the conduct of the entity seeking to build the casino, whereas the Everett business, as distasteful as it is, relates to the Mayor, not to Wynn.
All of this, it would seem, benefits the Yes On 3 folks.
Standard contract law. Also had Mohegan not acted ASAP it may have suffered irreparable harm in the highly competitive and fast moving casino industry. The Palmer referendum was a game changer and Mohegan acted prudently and did not breach the contract when it gave Suffolk Downs a call.
The Palmer landowner suffered no harm and the the contract was null and void. Waiting for a recount only hurt Mohegan Sun.
As for Wynn and Everett, right on.
But the vote was very close, and winning a recount was not out of the question. So “impossibility” strikes me as a weak argument.
and close vote or no they were on the winning side. Had they lost a close a vote I may agree. What are the damages? I just don’t get it.
What does irreparable harm have to do with whether or not MH breached its contractual obligations? Sure, MH might have lost out on a nice opportunity by sticking to the contract’s terms, but a contract’s a contract. The unexpected appearance of a more lucrative option doesn’t excuse contract performance. At least, not where I’m from.
Damages are a different and more interesting question. Apparently, the Palmer guy’s accusations include MH’s running an intentionally lousy referendum campaign, which might go to a “best efforts” clause that the contract might (or might not – I haven’t read it) contain. Again, I assume the courts will sort this out.
That’s one thing Mohegan would be asking for in an answer/counterclaim I assume. To declare that after the vote was taken and before the recount it was in its rights to treat the vote as finality with regards to the no talking to others clause.
Most contrat litigations request injunctive relief and irreparable harm is usually the deciding factor.
Now be a good law clerk and run a get me a pastrami on rye with brown mustard. And make it snappy. 🙂
You’re treating this as a contract between two for-profit entities. This is a contract between a sovereign nation and a municipality of the CommonWealth which was deliberately breached by the sovereign nation. Any irreprarable harm is to the CommonWealth and the injunctive relief may well be for the CommonWealth to forbid any and all commerce between the sovereign nation and the CommonWealth.
I believe the contract in question was between Mohegan Sun and the landowner in Palmer, who was a private entity (not the town of Palmer itself, or the Commonwealth). But I do agree that if MH was in breach, any harm would have been to the non-breaching party.
Boy do I feel like a clone….
Also, where does eminent domain come from? I’m pretty sure it can’t be invoked by a private party and even when the government does it it has to be for a public enterprise like infrastructure rather than a business.
DeMaria was proposing to use the city’s eminent domain power to take the parcel, and then essentially resell it to Wynn. To avoid a Kelo-type problem, he’d have to do it under the guise of “urban renewal” or some such charade. Stranger things have happened.
Somehow in my skimming I identified DeMaria as a casino owner rather than the Mayor of Everett. Mea cupla.
… that your cupla runneth over.
And to think Latin is even my second language:)
For the Boston Market as soon as Loveboy/Caesars went down the Crosby tubes.
The MS Palmer “campaign” was the lamest effort one could imagine. They pissed off nearly everyone with their lackadaisical and “no response” approach to all inquiries. And, they continued to state they would build a flyover from the Mass Pike even when it was determined impossible. They will say and not do anything for their sorry little sinking enterprise.
See today’s news: http://m.ctpost.com/local/article/Revenue-falls-at-state-casinos-as-regional-5708629.php
Do the math people…….Grossman’s claims about casino revenue recapture from CT are exaggerations! Gross exaggerations……bad news for the Commonwealth when the Treasurer is challenged with numbers.
While the very serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment are obviously unrelated to the casino industry, the other allegations of pay to play, and a Mayor ending up valuing the needs of the industry over the needs of the community, are definitely part and parcel with inviting these kinds of players into the Commonwealth. Steve Wynn, is a known union buster, has been involved in several significant legal controversies and federal investigations, including accusations of official bribery. And there are the likes of Trump and Adelson, who not only have questionable politics not in line with Massachusetts values, but have also been involved in many dirty deals and playing dirty politics over the years. They haven’t been directly involved in any Massachusetts casinos, but, their unsavory attributes are the norm rather than the exception in this industry.
And the tribes don’t have their hands clean either. We all know about Abramoff, and then there are the tribes closer to home . This is a business that routinely bribes officials, bends the rules, abhors a strong regulatory climate (and ours is definitely in doubt), and is regularly investigated by federal prosecutors. Let’s avoid this rabbit hole, not just for Everett, but for the whole state.
“What Happens In Vegas ain’t staying in Vegas”, it’s coming to your home town. I wonder when women’s groups are going to come out against this as well. Contrary to popular belief, the gap between the number of male and female gambling addicts is closing. While men are mostly drawn to the gaming tables like Black Jack that has the best odds for the player (as low as .05% for the house), women are drawn to the slots ( four times higher at 2% for the house). In short, women are easy pickings for casinos.
is a report that Foxwoods is drowning in debt. Supposedly, they have been selling off large swaths of real estate, and the debt is still growing. Debt service has to be killing them. Why should we buy into that?
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns and operates Foxwoods, has been selling off land near its reservation in southeastern Connecticut. And in a report this past week, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s lowered its rating for the tribe and said the chances of a debt default appear to be growing.
“In particular, the gaming industry remains weighed down by a sluggish consumer economy while the regional market is feeling the added effect of new competition and increased supply from surrounding states,” the tribe said in a news release.
The Day of New London reported that the tribe sold off 371 acres of mostly vacant land in North Stonington last month for $1.25 million.
http://www.newsday.com/business/foxwoods-casino-owners-again-feeling-strain-of-massive-debt-1.9137359