LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Nevada Supreme Court has sided with Las Vegas Sands Corp. on the question of whether the company has to hand over confidential documents to an executive suing for wrongful termination.
That executive, former Sands China chief Steven Jacobs, has said he needs to documents to make his case.
The court unanimously granted Sands’ request Thursday, overturning a lower court on the matter. The justices said Jacobs’ team had waited too long to make their request.
Jacobs was fired in July 2010 and filed a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal three months later in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. He accuses the casino company of breach of contract and of pushing him into illegal activity in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.
Las Vegas Sands filed a counterclaim, accusing Jacobs of extortion and ties to organized crime in China.
District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez sanctioned Sands in 2012 for failing to disclose documents to attorneys representing Jacobs.
The sanctions arose out of the disclosure in court that Sands possessed at its Las Vegas headquarters a computer hard drive containing emails sought by Jacobs’ lawyers as evidence. Sands’ attorneys had told the judge they couldn’t turn over the material because it was in Macau, and covered by that country’s Personal Data Protection Act.
Following the revelation, Gonzales ordered Sands to hand over the confidential documents.
The legal battle with Jacobs has drawn interest from U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigators for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. owns the Venetian and Palazzo resorts in Las Vegas and several casinos in Macau.
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