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Jury: Thomas, MSG sexually harassed top team executive.

metirish Oct 02 2007 09:41 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 02 2007 09:46 AM

] BY JOHN VALENTI | john.valenti@newsday.com 11:39 AM EDT, October 2, 2007 A jury found in favor of Madison Square Garden executive Anucha Browne Sanders Tuesday, upholding her claims that she was the victim of sexual harassment by New York Knicks coach and general manager Isiah Thomas. In announcing its verdict in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the seven-member jury told Judge Gerard Lynch it believed Garden officials had condoned the actions of Thomas and fired Browne Sanders when she complained. The former marketing executive, who earned $260,000 a year, had sued Thomas, the Garden and Garden chairman James Dolan for $10 million. The judge declared a mistrial on whether punitive damages were justified against Thomas. The jury also found that he did not participate in the retaliatory firing of Browne Sanders. The jury, however, did find that she was intentionally discharged by Madison Square Garden and Chairman James Dolan and that she was fired in retaliation for her complaints. The verdict was reached on the fourth day of deliberations -- and just one day after the jury had sent a note to Lynch indicating they were deadlocked by a 6-1 vote on the question of whether it could hit Thomas with punitive damages. Legal experts said that question, relayed to Lynch at 4:40 p.m. Monday, indicated jurors were on the verge of finding in favor of Browne Sanders. That was because the only way jurors could consider that question was if they had ruled against Thomas and the Garden on eight other questions in the controversial case. During the four-week civil trial, Browne Sanders and her attorneys argued that Thomas had made unwanted sexual advances toward the fired executive and had called her a "bitch" and a "ho" in conversations with her and with other Garden employees. They argued Browne Sanders was fired only because she had complained about Thomas. In their defense, attorneys for Thomas, the Garden and Dolan had argued that though Thomas had sometimes used so-called locker room language, the alleged harassment never took place -- and that Browne Sanders was fired because she was incompetent. Matthew Chayes contributed to this story.. So what does this mean if anything for his job status? EDIT for update.

Johnny Dickshot Oct 02 2007 09:42 AM

He was unqualified for his job to begin with, shouldn't mean a thing.

metirish Oct 02 2007 09:44 AM

My question made it seem like I only cared about his job, he's a pig and I am happy someone stood up to him.

metirish Oct 02 2007 12:30 PM

] MSG sex harass plaintiff gets $11.6M BY JOHN VALENTI | john.valenti@newsday.com 2:05 PM EDT, October 2, 200 A federal jury decided Tuesday afternoon that Madison Square Garden and its chairman, James Dolan, must pay fired Garden executive Anucha Browne Sanders $11.6 million in damages. Madison Square Garden must pay $8.6 million while Dolan is responsible for the remaining $3 million. It took less than an hour for the seven-member jury to determine how much the Garden and Dolan must pay.

Kid Carsey Oct 02 2007 01:49 PM

I hope alll that dough doesn't count towards the salary cap.

Nymr83 Oct 02 2007 02:00 PM

i pretty much believe MSG's story- that she was a poor employee whose complaints only started when she was about to get let go anyway. but Isiah sucks and if this leads to him getting fired i can't wait.

Valadius Oct 02 2007 04:23 PM

Total bullshit. She was a shitty employee who exaggerated a hell of a lot. However, Isiah is a sleazy sack of crap, and I can't wait to see him go.

Kid Carsey Oct 02 2007 05:00 PM

Do you have to boil everything down to shitty, crappy, makes you unhappy, do something better NOW!!!, etc? OE: I should say 'some stuff' instead of 'ev- erything' ... my bad. She was a quarter of million dollar pulling down executive for an NBA team. How the hell do you know how good an employee she was? Feh.