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2 More Black Women Sue MSG, Plus Your Worst Sex-Harassment Stories
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
October 08, 2007
It's been quite a week for Madison Square Garden (MSG). First, former Knicks marketing executive Anucha Browne Sanders wins $11.6 million in a sexual-harassment and retaliation lawsuit against head coach Isiah Thomas, who was convicted of using denigrating language and behavior toward Sanders that created a hostile work environment. Then, a former Ranger City Skaters captain, Courtney Prince, who formerly was employed with MSG, sued for sexual harassment.
Now, two black-female security supervisors who are no longer with the company are suing MSG for allegedly bypassing them for promotions and pay raises in favor of two white interns who the plaintiffs say slept with management. Read more from FOX News.
Eleven-year MSG employee Diane Henson and a five-year employee who told FOX she did not want to be named also claim MSG forced them to resign after they complained about discrimination against blacks and women. Their lawsuit includes charges of retaliation, but an upcoming case to be heard in U.S. Supreme Court involving race discrimination at a Cracker Barrel restaurant may limit their ability to file charges on this basis if the now conservative-leaning court sides with the employer.
"It's definitely a boys' club there ... I didn't seem to get the same opportunities everyone else got," Henson told FOX News, reflecting on the cultural change she says happened when Kirk Randazzo became vice president of event operations in 2005. "It's because we're women and we're black," added the second plaintiff.
MSG refused to comment on the allegations and denied any knowledge of the lawsuit, reports FOX News.
What You Said About Sexual Harassment at Work
In light of the pervasive corporate culture of sexism and racism exposed by Isiah Thomas' high-profile sexual-harassment lawsuit, we asked DiversityInc readers to share their worst sexual-harassment experiences at work.
Click here to submit a comment if you haven't done so already, and remember that if you are treated like the women in some of these stories, not all companies are the same. Get best practices from The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity®.
Here are some of your stories:
—[A] man said he loved my nylon full slip; he could see the top of it through my blouse. He rubbed my blouse in the back. I was horrified and went to my boss.
—To read a response with graphic language, click here.
—I was raped on a business trip by a coworker. After he finished, he made sure that I understood that he was a "favorite" of our step-a-level boss and that my story would NOT believed if I pursued the issue. He was right in that my supervisor did not act when I talked with her. Because I was young and stupid, I did not file a police report.
—When I was a director of nursing at a 71-bed skilled long-term nursing facility, the administrator was always making comments and gestures that indicated he thought he was a cutesie and a ladies man. One day in the main office, and thankfully in front of several other office personnel, I was reviewing a prospective admission. He interrupted me saying my problem was that I was not getting enough sex. Everyone was so quiet and just stared at him. I resumed my review as if he had not interrupted, when he did it again. I simply looked at him and told him he was completely out of order, and when he was ready to talk business, he could have one of the office persons call me back into the office where we would complete the review. I then left the office. I ... informed my assistant director that something important had come up and I had to leave for awhile. I immediately went to my attorney and discussed what went on. I knew he sat on the board of the nursing home and could put a bug in the directors' ears to straighten up that administrator in a hurry or suffer the consequences. I felt as soiled as if he had physically molested me. Even after all these years (18), it makes me feel disgusted. He apologized right off the next morning. And the facility wanted an in-service on sexual harassment ASAP! They got a good one.
—My previous boss was a renowned womanizer. Although he held a high public position as a public official and was married, he boasted to his colleagues of his indiscretions. One of his colleagues thought that he could do the same thing and was dealt a sexual-harassment lawsuit for making his legislative assistant perform oral sex in order to keep her job. My boss would call me into his office to ask me personal questions regarding who I was sleeping with and would also have his secretary tell me that I should have sex with the boss in order to receive a promotion. I sought the assistance of our human resources, who informed me that because it was an at-will position, he can fire me and they were unable to help me because he was so powerful.
Eventually my boss won reelection to be chairman and his first official duty was to terminate me. No official reason was given, but everyone knew why. I am proud to say that the last time I walked out of that office, I walked out with my self-respect intact, which unfortunately no other woman [who] worked for my boss was able to say.
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