Just a few years ago Doreen Whennen was a trusted member of casino king Steve Wynn’s corporate empire. Make that very trusted.

Although Wynn’s business success story has been widely heralded, Whennen’s climb through the industry’s chauvinistic ranks is no less impressive. During her long tenure on the non-gaming side of the company, she began in 1989 as the front desk supervisor at The Mirage and was on hand when Wynn was credited with reinvigorating a moribund Strip. She stayed with Wynn after Mirage Resorts was purchased by the wily Kirk Kerkorian, and remained part of the team as he reinvented the Desert Inn as the Wynn Las Vegas.

The heart of Whennen’s career was spent at Wynn Las Vegas as the vice president of hotel operations, where she not only ran the company’s many non-gaming layers, but also managed thousands of employees working outside the casino pit.

In 2007, as the casino man expanded his empire, she took an executive position at Wynn Macau before resigning from the company in 2014. That’s approximately 25 years of trusted service on the inside of one of the casino industry’s grandest success stories.

But now former insider Whennen is accused of breaching that long-held trust - and the confidentiality that accompanied it - during a deposition in connection with a lawsuit pitting Steve Wynn against ex-wife Elaine Wynn over control of the longtime Las Vegas casino queen’s 9 percent share of Wynn Resorts.

A lawsuit filed against Whennen Dec. 8 in Clark County District Court by Worldwide Wynn, LLC, a little-known subsidiary of Wynn Resorts, alleges she violated the terms of her employment agreement and “Wrongfully Misappropriated Confidential and Privileged Information from Wynn” when she kept notes related to a 2005 “employee grievance” investigation.

During her tenure at Wynn Las Vegas, Whennen personally handled many confidential work-related employee complaints, apparently including sexual harassment grievances. Dedicated employee that she was, Whennen kept notes.

And Wynn, through his attorneys at the Pisanelli Bice law firm, wants those notes returned before they are made public.

“Defendant has refused to return the Notes to Wynn and maintained that they are her personal property,” the lawsuit states. “In light of the foregoing, Wynn seeks a judicial declaration that the Notes are Company property.”

Although it’s not officially confirmed the “grievance” was related to a 2005 sexual harassment complaint, Elaine Wynn attorney Mark Ferrario in an August hearing in the ongoing civil battle told the court, “At the end of the day this was simply a report of sexual harassment.” In an earlier document request, Ferrario sought all materials “regarding any allegations of sexual misconduct by a current or former Wynn Resorts employee.”

The Wynn v. Wynn war is intensifying at a time sexual harassment issues have been toppling arrogant politicians, movie moguls, corporate titans and media stars. For his part, Wynn has vehemently denied any inappropriate behavior. In responding to a Bloomberg inquiry, Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver said accusations Wynn “committed an alleged assault or harassment of any kind are completely false. There is substantial evidence that discredits such allegations.”

Who knows, maybe the proof is in the notes.

Elaine Wynn’s attorneys assert it’s just such controversies that speak to their argument Steve Wynn has been running Wynn Resorts, a corporation with a privileged Nevada gaming license, in a reckless manner. Potential lawsuits and licensing issues aside, some stockholders might counter that the company’s 164.49 price per share at close of trading Friday considerably softens their concerns.

While the legal battle goes on, one fact seems clear: It’s hard to find anyone with more intimate knowledge of Wynn Las Vegas worker complaints than Whennen, who by the lawsuit’s own admission, “participated in interviews and investigations related to employee claims from the non-gaming departments she oversaw” and “was routinely a party to sensitive, confidential, and privileged information.”

We now also know with certainty Doreen Whennen kept notes on that information.

Maybe one day we’ll learn their contents.

Disclosure: Wynn Resorts ($75,000) and Elaine P. Wynn and Family Foundation ($30,000) have donated to The Nevada Independent. You can view a full list of donors here.

Disclosure: Steve Wynn sued John L. Smith and his publisher over a book catalog advertisement for his 1995 investigative biography, “Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn.” Smith was dismissed from the lawsuit. Although Wynn won a judgment in district court, that decision was overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court. The case was later settled with no money changing hands.

John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.