LAS VEGAS The former CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Macau division has filed a defamation lawsuit against company Chairman Sheldon Adelson.
The defamation allegation is an addendum to a wrongful termination lawsuit from former Sands China Ltd. CEO Steven Jacobs that is currently pending in Las Vegas against Adleson and Sands. Jacobs was fired last summer. In March, Adelson was quoted by The Wall Street Journal accusing Jacobs of “using outright lies and fabrications” to explain his termination.
Jacobs is seeking a jury trial in the case. A judge still must approve the addition of the defamation charge to the larger lawsuit.
In March, shortly before Adelson’s Journal interview, Sands motioned unsuccessfully to have the lawsuit dismissed. Jacobs’ lawyers claim Adelson’s public statements were “malicious” and “purposefully intended to harm Jacobs’ reputation and good name.”
In his wrongful termination filing, Jacobs alleges that Adelson wanted him to use “improper leverage” against senior Macau government officials to help Sands China secure rights to sell apartments at its Four Seasons Macau—allegations that have spurred the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to open an investigation, Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Sands has denied the allegations.