A sordid tale of verbal abuse and
sexual harassment concluded today when a jury found the New York Knicks' head
coach, Isiah
Thomas, guilty in a
lawsuit brought by former Madison Square Garden employee Anucha Browne
Sanders. She was
awarded $11.6 million
in damages.
The jury ruled Thomas did not have
to personally pay punitive damages, but Browne Sanders was entitled to punitive
damages from Madison Square Garden (MSG), a co-defendant in the case
said.
Over the course of the three-week
trial, Browne Sanders, who was fired from her $260,000-a-year job in 2006,
presented Madison Square Garden as "Animal House" in sneakers, where crude
remarks, sexism and crass language were an accepted part of the culture,
according to The Associated Press. The
headlines of the case dominated the back pages of New York tabloids as
allegations ran the gamut of Thomas going from offering unwanted advances to
later referring to
the former senior vice
president of marketing and business operations as a "bitch" and a "ho." Thomas also stirred up a
tempest with his videotaped remarks about the racial dynamics of calling a woman
"a bitch" when Thomas suggested he would be more troubled hearing a white man
calling a black woman a "bitch" than if a black man said the same thing, reports
USA Today.
Under cross examination, Thomas
denied ever referring to Sanders that way, only admitting that he had sworn in
her presence. Thomas did acknowledge trying to kiss Browne Sanders once in 2005.
When she recoiled, MSG President Steve Mills said he spoke with Thomas about the
incident, and Thomas said it would not occur again.
MSG also said
it would appeal, says CNN.
"We believe
that the jury's decision was incorrect," spokespeople for MSG said in a
statement. "We look forward to presenting our arguments to an appeals court, and
believe they will agree that no sexual harassment took place and MSG acted
properly."
The case has also spilled onto the
radio airwaves in New
York. Prior to the verdict, some radio
commentators had drawn parallels to the allegations Thomas was charged with to
the verbal abuse Don
Imus levied against the Rutgers women's basketball team. Some wondered if
Thomas get away with what Imus couldn't. Conversely, some blacks thought the
trial wasn't getting enough attention because it was a case of black-on-black
crime.
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