Casino boss Steve Wynn’s $7.5m settlement of a sexual harassment claim dominated a hearing of Massachusetts gaming regulators tasked with determining his suitability to operate in their state.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) held a public hearing into last week’s bombshell Wall Street Journal report alleging decades’ worth of sexual impropriety by Steve Wynn against female employees of casino operator Wynn Resorts.

Wynn is currently building the $2.4b Wynn Boston Harbor, and MGC chairman Stephen Crosby kicked off Wednesday’s hearing by saying nothing must be allowed to shake Massachusetts residents’ confidence in their gaming industry.

Karen Wells, director of the MGC’s Investigation and Enforcement Bureau, noted that the WSJ report had disclosed the existence of a $7.5m settlement Wynn Resorts reached with a former Wynn Las Vegas manicurist who claims Steve forced her to have sex in his office.