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NBA Legal: Dallas Mavericks sexual harassment case has reached $10M settlement

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'I think Mark knew': Former Mavericks employee details organization's toxic workplace
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Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Dallas Mavericks interim CEO Cynthia Marshall maker their way into the room for a press conference at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Monday, February 26, 2018. Marshall has been hired by the Mavericks to help clean up after the recent sexual harassment scandal in the front office. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

By Brandon George, Staff Writer Contact Brandon Georgeon Twitter:mad:DMN_George

Melissa Weishaupt believes it's time she becomes more than an anonymous voice.

A month after Weishaupt's anonymous statements to Sports Illustratedwere featured prominently in a story detailing a Dallas Mavericks corporate culture prevalent with predatory sexual behavior and misogyny, she attached her name and face to her comments Tuesday.

Weishaupt wrote a first-person essay published by Sports Illustrated's website Tuesday about her experiences working in marketing and game operations for the Mavericks from 2010 to 2014 and why she believes owner Mark Cuban still doesn't recognize the problem. In an extensive interview Tuesday with The Dallas Morning News, Weishaupt opened up about how she became a target of former Mavericks president/CEO Terdema Ussery.

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Weishaupt was among more than a dozen former and current Mavericks employees that SI interviewed during its one-month investigation. She said she's been influenced by the #MeToo movement and hopes other women allegedly sexually harassed by Ussery during his Mavericks tenure will now feel more empowered to come forward. She also believes Cuban and the Mavericks need to do more.

Weishaupt's decision to attach her name to her allegations was in part sparked by Ussery's denial to Sports Illustrated. When Ussery was told that multiple women alleged he sexually harassed them, he told the magazine, "I am deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me."

"When Terdema said that about staying anonymous, he made it seem like we're being cowards with it, and we're definitely not," Weishaupt said. "There are reasons why people stay anonymous, but I want more people to come forward and I want people to feel they can say something and feel comfortable saying something. They shouldn't feel like they should have to hide. There is power in speaking out. For so long we've had to be quiet with this and it is scary and it's uncomfortable, but you should come forward."

Ussery hasn't returned repeated calls from The News.

'Toxic workplace'
Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer

Former Dallas Mavericks employee Melissa Weishaupt is pictured in Dallas on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)

Cuban, who declined to comment Tuesday, has denied having any knowledge of sexual harassment allegations against Ussery. When contacted by Sports Illustrated, Cuban said "this is all new to me" but added it needed to be fixed.

Cuban immediately suspended human resources director Buddy Pittman. The day after Sports Illustrated's story was published, Cuban contacted Cynthia Marshall, a 58-year-old, high-profile human resources executive during a 36-year career at AT&T, and quickly hired her as the Mavericks' interim CEO with the task of cleaning up the non-basketball operations side of the organization. Cuban also mandated sensitivity training for all employees, and the Mavericks have initiated an NBA-sponsored hotline for any employee to report issues. That hotline began operation on Sunday.

Weishaupt said she hasn't been contacted by Marshall to detail her experiences. Someone else with the Mavericks reached out to her, she said, after the Sports Illustrated story to tell her the organization would pay for her to go to counseling.


"I don't need your counseling now," Weishaupt responded. "My thing is the workplace needs to change. [Cuban] doesn't get that he needs to take care of all of your workers.

"I went years ago and I received my counseling and came to peace with this. I'm more focused on equality for all workers and not just women and I think that gets lost in the whole story. I feel like there are men who work there who don't get treated well. It's such a hostile and toxic workplace. Yes, women were sexually harassed in this workplace, and when you work in such a toxic workplace everyone is not treated fair. You work in fear. It was unfair for everybody."

Marshall, in Philadelphia for a speaking engagement, said by phone Tuesday that she is welcoming reports like the one from Weishaupt, but she wants to reassure fans and critics that any notion that the franchise is standing still is inaccurate.

The Mavericks recently made two high-profile hires but purposely did not publicize them.

Tarsha LaCour, a Houston native and product of Texas A&M, has been hired as vice president of human resources. Cyndee Wales, a Californian who has been in Texas for 10 years, is the new chief ethics and compliance officer.

"I don't want people thinking we don't believe these women who come forward," Marshall said. "We need to know these things and it will all fold into the plan. It's sad that people went through this.

"And if people have something to say, tell it to us or the investigators or the newspaper. We absolutely are going to come out of this a better organization. But it will take some time."

The Mavericks' investigation, led by Evan Krutoy and Anne Milgram, is expected to last until early summer.

Weishaupt still works in Dallas and spent 15 years in radio at previous stops.

"I've worked in these environments before," she said, "but this was a whole other level."

Shocked by Ussery
Michael Ainsworth/Staff Photogra/

Dallas Mavericks President and CEO, Terdema Ussery, talks to high school students during at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on March 24, 2011. (Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News)

Ussery spent 18 years with the Mavericks before leaving in 2015. He's credited with arranging the financing for American Airlines Center and bringing the All-Star Game to AT&T Stadium in 2010.

In 1998, the Mavericks conducted an internal investigation about Ussery after several female employees lodged complaints about inappropriate workplace behavior. The results of the probe weren't released, but soon after the completion of the investigation the Mavericks hired Pittman as their new HR boss. Cuban purchased the team 17 months later.

Weishaupt said she entered her Mavericks job in 2010 with her eyes wide open, knowing Ussery had previously been investigated by the organization.

But even with that knowledge, she wasn't prepared for what she heard from him.

Before a home game during the 2010-11 season, Weishaupt was eating dinner in the media dining room when, as she recalled, Ussery asked if he could join her.

Ussery claimed he knew how Weishaupt was going to spend her weekend.

"You're going to get gang-banged," he told her.

She was caught off-guard and said that she was actually going to the movies.

Ussery, however, kept pushing.

"You're definitely getting gang-banged."

Weishaupt said that Ussery often repeated that same comment to her at other times in other settings.

"He would always bring up motorcycle riders, like I was getting gang-banged by motorcycle riders," Weishaupt said. "It was so often, I can't even tell you how many times he said it."

Other times, Weishaupt said, Ussery would make inappropriate comments about her body.

Weishaupt brought her concerns to Pittman, she said, but he shrugged it off, telling her that she should just try to avoid Ussery and keep her distance.

That was impossible. She worked near Ussery and had almost daily contact with him.

"I said one time in the office to him, 'When you say things like that to women, those are generally not the women who get promoted,'" Weishaupt recalled. "I said, 'I would really appreciate it if you didn't talk to me that way,' and he just slapped me on the back and walked away and I knew I was totally screwed."

One day, toward the end of her tenure, Weishaupt said she finally reached her breaking point with her direct boss, Paul Monroe, then the Mavericks' vice president of marketing, during an incident in the parking lot of the team's business offices.

Weishaupt had previously told Monroe about the toxic culture with the Mavericks that was unfriendly to women, specifically detailing some of Ussery's behavior.

"We were in a car together, and he absolutely lost his mind with me," Weishaupt said. "He had locked me in the car for an hour. I froze because he just completely lost his mind, screaming and yelling at me."

Monroe couldn't be reached by The News for comment. He told Sports Illustrated that he didn't recall that "conversation nor the context" with Weishaupt.

"During my tenure with the Mavs no employee ever reported to me that they were a victim of inappropriate behavior," Monroe told SI.

During the intense hour, Weishaupt said two other Mavericks employees saw the two in the car together. One, Weishaupt recalled, was executive vice president George Killebrew.

"They walked by and pointed and laughed, and my heart sank," Weishaupt said. "I knew nobody was ever going to help, so I knew I had to get out of there."

Killebrew was told about Weishaupt's allegation Tuesday.

"I don't recall that occurrence at all," he said. "And if I ever saw any Mavs employee in duress I would try to help them."

Weishaupt said Monroe was yelling that she was a "horrible employee" and he was going to "get me fired."

"I describe it like a domestic violence situation because I felt trapped," she said. "He was so violent and screaming and I told everybody who would listen to me and nobody seemed to care, and when those two didn't stop to help and pointed and laughed, I thought, 'What is wrong with these people?' I knew it wasn't a safe place to work. I left at the end of the season."

Weishaupt said she didn't report the incident with Monroe to Pittman in HR because she already knew nothing positive would come from it.

'I think Mark knew'
Ron Jenkins/AP

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, left, looks on as Cynthia Marshall, new interim CEO of the team, addresses the media Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)

Weishaupt said she believes Cuban knew about the toxic work environment and Ussery's long history of sexual harassment. She said she never directly told Cuban about their issues or knew of anyone who had a direct conversation with him.

"I think Mark knew about it, just because of how people talked in the office," Weishaupt said. "It was a small office. I think Mark knew and I think Mark just turned a blind eye to it. He was not in the office a lot, but our department dealt with him a lot. I know he was very involved with day-to-day decisions. It's hard for me to believe he just dealt with basketball operations. That's just an untrue statement. And if people want to believe that [because] they love Mark Cuban, that's good on you, but people at the Mavs know that's not true. That's not what was happening."

Allegra East, who has known Cuban since his days at Indiana University and worked as the director of the Mavericks Foundation and community services from 2000 to 2003, said she has a hard time believing Cuban knew anything about inappropriate behavior. She said she never witnessed any sexual harassment.

"He's a good man. He has a good heart and he is respectful to women," East said of Cuban. "I never saw him as a perpetrator and I do believe 100 percent he would never tolerate that in the workplace. I don't think Mark is stupid. I don't think he's blind. He expects his management team to do its job. He was failed in a really bad way by Pittman. I believe [Cuban] being horrified.

"Do I believe Ussery is guilty of sexual harassment? 100 percent, yes. I don't believe a leopard changes his spots."

Weishaupt said looking back on her experiences, she's not sure how she could have handled it differently.

"Women are not wallflowers and stiff," she said. "We love jokes and love to joke around and have fun, but if you're telling someone over and over and over and they tell you, 'That doesn't make me feel comfortable,' you don't have to have your ego crushed and double-down on the situation. Just move on from it. It's not really that hard to figure out."

Staff writers Brad Townsend and Eddie Sefko contributed to this report.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/da...avericks-corrosive-workplace-eyes-ex-employee
 
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Terdema Ussery
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Former Mavs Executive Terdema Ussery Accused of Sexual Harassment in Bombshell Sports Illustrated Report
STEPHEN YOUNG | FEBRUARY 21, 2018 | 12:07PM
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Former Mavericks President Terdema Ussery, a driving force in the team's front office for almost two decades, repeatedly harassed, demeaned and made unwanted advances toward multiple team employees before his departure from the club in 2015, a report released by Sports Illustrated on Tuesday night claims.

Another team employee, Mavs.com beat writer Earl K. Sneed, reportedly beat two women, including a fellow Mavericks employee, without any consequences from the organization, the report says. The Mavs fired Sneed on Tuesday, according to a statement from the team.

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The Sports Illustrated piece begins with a vignette from the Mavericks' 2010-11 championship season. Ussery, once viewed as one of the league's bright young executive stars, perhaps even a future NBA commissioner, approaches a Mavericks support staff employee eating dinner in the American Airlines Center's media dining room and tells her he knows what she's doing over the weekend.

“You’re going to get gang-banged,” he told the woman, according to Sports Illustrated. “Aren’t you?”

“No,” the woman responded. “Actually, I’m going to the movies with friends.”

“No,” Ussery insisted. “You’re definitely getting gang-banged.”

The behavior was nothing new for Ussery, according to women with the Mavericks organization who told the magazine about numerous instances of being propositioned for sex and inappropriately touched by Ussery.

Shortly before Sports Illustrated dropped its article, the Mavericks released a pre-emptive statement, announcing an investigation into the team's front-office culture and treatment of women. Until the investigation is complete, the team says, it will not make any additional comments.

"The Mavericks organization takes these allegations extremely seriously," the statement says, in part. "Yesterday we notified the league office and immediately hired outside counsel to conduct a thorough and independent investigation. The investigation will focus on the specific allegations related to this former employee, and will look more broadly at our company's workplace practices and policies."

In a statement to the magazine, Ussery accused the women making the accusations against him of lying.

“I am deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me,” Ussery said Tuesday. “During my career with the Mavericks, I have strived to conduct myself with character, integrity and empathy for others."

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Earl Sneed
Earl K. Sneed via Twitter
Before clamming up Tuesday, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Sports Illustrated that he was embarrassed of the allegations made against Ussery and Sneed but had no prior knowledge of their behavior or, in Sneed's case, criminal record. Sneed pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor family violence charge stemming from an incident during which he "sat on top of [an ex-girlfriend] and slapped her on the face and chest.” Later, he assaulted a fellow Mavericks employee with whom he was engaged in a romantic relationship, according to Sports Illustrated.

Sneed also issued a statement Tuesday. In it, he says that the Mavericks were aware of his history and made him sign a contract agreeing to avoid one-on-one interaction with female co-workers.

"While both instances described in the report are damning and language used is not accurate, the two relationships described in the report are not something I am proud to have been a part of. I underwent much counseling after both situations, under the direction of [Mavs vice president of human resources] Buddy Pittman, and I feel like I grew from that counseling," Sneed said. "I also signed a contract stating that I would not have one-on-one contact or fraternize with female employees after the inaccurately described incident with my female co-worker, who was a live-in girlfriend. I abided by the details of that contract for four years, and received counseling during that period to avoid future instances."

In addition to firing Sneed, the Mavericks have suspended Pittman, who's singled out in Tuesday's report for turning a blind eye to complaints made by female Mavs staffers.

"An employee [Pittman] whose job was to receive and investigate such complaints and report them accurately and fully, has been suspended pending the conclusion of our investigation," the team said.

No Mavericks players or coaches are implicated in the story. In fact, female employees identified the team's locker room as a safe haven from the misogyny in the front office.

“I dealt with players all the time. I had hundreds of interactions with players and never once had an issue … they always knew how to treat people," one woman told Sports Illustrated. "Then I'd go to the office and it was this zoo, this complete shitshow. My anxiety would go down dealing with players; it would go up when I got to my desk.”


http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/...assment-claims-in-sports-illustrated-10394033
 
Former Mavericks employee: Mark Cuban 'doesn't recognize culture he helped create'
Steve Gardner, USA TODAY SportsPublished 6:33 p.m. ET March 20, 2018


In the wake of Sports Illustrated's story on the corrosive workplace culture of the Dallas Mavericks, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the league will launch a confidential hotline for employees to report workplace issues. Time

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One of the more than a dozen current and former Dallas Mavericks employees who've accused the club of doing nothing to investigate claims of sexual harassment and domestic violence has shed her anonymity.

In a first-person article for Sports Illustrated, former marketing and game operations official Melissa Weishaupt says even though team owner Mark Cuban has promised to conduct an independent investigation into the actions of former CEO Terdema Ussery and former website writer Earl K. Sneed, she's "convinced that Cuban still doesn’t recognize the culture he’s helped create."

Weishaupt writes she is one of the women Ussery harassed and was interviewed by Sports Illustrated for its original story.

In the article published Tuesday, Weishaupt says the counseling hotline Cuban set up is inaccessible to current and former employees -- and the team's human resources department has been set up "to protect management and not the employees."

Ussery was the focus of an internal investigation in 1998 after several female employees complained of sexual misconduct. But as Sports Illustrated reported in breaking the original story, the internal probe didn’t stop Ussery, who allegedly continued to sexually harass at least two women for years. He left the team in June 2015 to take a job with Under Armour.

Sneed was a beat writer for Mavs.com who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on his girlfriend in 2012 and later had a relationship with a Mavericks co-worker that turned violent. Despite the incident being reported to HR, he remained with the team until he was fired in February, after the story broke. Cuban took the blame for not firing Sneed sooner.

"I want to deal with this issue," Cuban told SI after the allegations became public. "Obviously there’s a problem in the Mavericks organization and we’ve got to fix it. That’s it. And we’re going to take every step."

Weishaupt suggests organizational reforms start with women receiving equitable pay, being treated with respect and getting the same opportunities for promotions as their male counterparts.

She says going public is her way of being an advocate for change, rather than a victim.

"I’m using my name because I’m still not sure the Mavericks get it," Weishaupt writes. "Since the story broke, owner Mark Cuban has repeatedly claimed he oversaw only the basketball side of that franchise, not the business side.

"Sorry. It doesn’t work that way. You own 100% of the team, Mark. The buck stops with you."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...oyee-mark-cuban-harassment-culture/443606002/
 
My Story: Melissa Weishaupt Goes on the Record About Mavs’ Culture of Harassment
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GREG NELSON/SI
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  • After more than a dozen current and ex-employees shed light on the Mavs' hostile work environment, a former target opens up about her sexual harassment experience and why Mark Cuban still doesn't recognize the problem.
By MELISSA WEISHAUPT
March 20, 2018
Last month former Mavericks president Terdema Ussery was presented with allegations that he had sexually harassed multiple women while he held that position.

In response he said this: “I am deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me.”

Let’s tackle that issue of anonymity. I worked in marketing and game operations for the Mavs from 2010 through ’14. I was one of the women Terdema harassed and who spoke to Sports Illustrated for the story. My name is Melissa Weishaupt.

As is the case for so many females, the #MeToo movement has had relevance and resonance for, well, me too. I nodded as I read stories about powerful men using their positions of authority to behave inappropriately and then relying on their allies to avoid consequences. I could relate to women who just wanted to do their jobs but who instead had to devote so much time and energy to dealing with predators. I found myself skeptical of owners and CEOs who prided themselves on knowing the most minute details of their organization but who suddenly claimed to be clueless about a hostile workplace culture.


I also understood why so many women decided not to affix their names to these stories. The critics often ask, “Why do they stay anonymous?” Well. Some fear for their safety. Others don’t want to be ostracized. Some don’t want to deal with trolls on social media, or they don’t want their new coworkers to look at them differently. Personally, I was less concerned for myself than for my family and friends getting any backlash. But now I am reconsidering.

I’m using my name because I’m still not sure the Mavericks get it. Since the story broke, owner Mark Cuban has repeatedly claimed he oversaw only the basketball side of that franchise, not the business side.

Sorry. It doesn’t work that way. You own 100% of the team, Mark. The buck stops with you. When I worked on the Mavs’ business side, all marketing, promotional and broadcasting decisions went through you. Nothing was decided without your approval.

I am using my name because I am convinced that Cuban still doesn’t recognize the culture he’s helped create or the plight of the women who still work for him. From where I sit, Mark’s response was to rush in like some white knight in a T-shirt and jeans and yell, Don’t worry, ladies of the Mavs, I will help you with paid counseling and a hotline you can call!

Now you want to help? We are not fragile flowers. We don’t long for counseling. (As for that hotline: I’ve spoken with a dozen current and former team employees; we have no idea what this is or how to find it.) We want equitable pay. We need to be treated with respect. When deserved, we ought to be given the same promotions as our male counterparts.

I’m using my name because I’m encouraged by people like Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle. After SI’s story broke, they didn’t duck questions; they didn’t blame the victims. Accused of nothing, they still recognized they represented their organization. They showed support for those of us who came forward. I’m using my name because I want people to understand there are economics tied to this #MeToo movement. We were told at staff meetings: Texas is a right-to-work state. You have the right to work here; we have the right to fire you. If you work in fear that you could be fired at any time, you’ll be reluctant to complain.

I’m using my name because I know that the human resources department is not always a safe haven. At the Mavericks—and I’m sure elsewhere—HR was there to protect management, not employees. Many workers, especially middle-class and minority workers do not have a voice or an advocate at their jobs. They should chronicle what happens around them, find a support group outside of work. But they should be cautious in dealing with HR.

Yes, I was harassed while I worked for the Mavericks. But I am using my name now because I will never say that I am a victim. I am tougher. I am wiser. I am my own advocate.

I am Melissa Weishaupt.

https://www.si.com/nba/2018/03/20/d...eishaupt-sexual-harassment-culture-mark-cuban
 
The NBA blew it: Why Mavs owner Mark Cuban deserved a suspension after sexual harassment investigation
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Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban walks off the court following a 124-97 loss to the Phoenix Suns in season finale for both teams at American Airlines Center on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)

By Tim Cowlishaw, Staff Columnist Contact Tim Cowlishawon Twitter:@TimCowlishaw

It's wonderful to be rich. I think we were all aware of that prior to Wednesday afternoon, but when Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban bought his way out of trouble and avoided any kind of suspension from the NBA despite the overwhelming evidence of his organization having been out of control for two decades, it hit home.

No suspension. Nothing. Not a game.

Cuban will pay $10 million to a variety of programs dealing with women in the workplace and domestic violence. It's a big check but one that any NBA owner can write without changing his plans for dinner. And Cuban's performance on ESPN's "The Jump" during an aggressive interview from host Rachel Nichols should have given the NBA all sorts of reasons to create a more painful solution for the Mavs owner, considering the pain so many women endured for years while working for his club.


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Cuban repeatedly acknowledged the mistakes he had made, starting with his failure to examine or scrutinize his CEO Terdema Ussery when he bought the club in 2000. Ussery had been under investigation by the Mavericks for sexual harassment in 1998. I wrote about it. Brad Townsend wrote about it. Others wrote and talked about it. Somehow Cuban claims he never heard of it and didn't know about it when he bought the club.

"Should I have done due diligence and should they have disclosed it? Yes,'' Cuban said. "In hindsight, I was just excited to buy the Mavs.''

The manner in which Cuban allowed Chris Hyde, a team employee, to survive numerous reports of misconduct as well as former mavs.com beat writer Earl Sneed, involved in two domestic violence incidents (one of them with a team employee) remains appalling. And Cuban offers no excuses in either case.

"In hindsight, it was stupid on my part. It's ridiculous,'' Cuban said. "If someone showed me this from another company, I'd say that you couldn't make a bigger mistake.''

This from the guy on Shark Tank, the expert on entrepreneurship and how to run a company.

With all of these admissions from Cuban, how did the NBA arrive at the position that a fine was enough? Ignorance is rarely a useful defense. It doesn't work for college coaches, so how can it be good enough for the owner of an NBA franchise?

One can hope that the millions will do some good on any number of fronts. A penalty to the basketball team (loss of a draft pick) would have hurt Cuban the most but ultimately would have been unfair to a team that had nothing to do with the business office.

So suspending Cuban for multiple games was the best way to let the embarrassment linger, to drive home the point that NBA owners cannot be this removed from their own workplace.

The NBA unfortunately took a pass.
 
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to donate $10M after NBA probes office environment
Associated Press
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Mark Cuban has owned the Dallas Mavericks since 2000. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins, File)

DALLAS – Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has agreed to contribute $10 million to women's causes and domestic violence awareness as part of the NBA's investigation into workplace conditions with his franchise.

The league also announced Wednesday that it would require staffing, reporting and policy changes for the Mavericks seven months after a Sports Illustrated report detailed years of examples of a hostile workplace for women on the business side of the operation.

There were also allegations of sexual misconduct against former team President Terdemy Ussery. He worked for Cuban for 15 years and was investigated by the Mavericks over similar allegations in 1998, two years before Cuban bought the team. The league investigation determined Cuban wasn't aware of Ussery's actions.


Cuban hired two former prosecutors to investigate the complaints and the franchise's workplace practices.

Soon after the SI report, Cuban hired former AT&T executive Cynthia Marshall as CEO. The NBA made note of that and other staffing changes the Mavericks had already implemented.

"The findings of the independent investigation are disturbing and heartbreaking and no employee in the NBA, or any workplace for that matter, should be subject to the type of working environment described in the report," Commissioner Adam Silver said. "While nothing will undo the harm caused by a select few former employees of the Mavericks, the workplace reforms and the $10 million that Mark has agreed to contribute are important steps toward rectifying this past behavior and shining a light on a pervasive societal failing -- the inability of too many organizations to provide a safe and welcoming workplace for women."


Ussery had left Nike to join the Mavericks and had previously served as commissioner of the old Continental Basketball Association. He was praised by former NBA Commissioner David Stern and served as the Mavericks' alternate governor with the league.

Sports Illustrated reported Ussery made sexually suggestive remarks to several women, accusations he called "outright false." He spent 18 years with the team before going to the sports apparel company Under Armour in 2015, a job he left after less than six months.

The SI report also said team website reporter Earl Sneed was twice involved in domestic assault cases while working for the Mavericks, including a guilty plea in a case that was dismissed when he met the conditions of the agreement. Sneed and former human resources director Buddy Pittman were fired in the wake of the report, which included allegations that executives weren't responsive when women complained of workplace violations.

The investigation was clearly embarrassing to Cuban. The normally outspoken star of the TV show "Shark Tank" at one pointed earlier this conceded he could not explain to fans how such a hands-on billionaire could be unaware of such explosive allegations on the business side of his operation. It also came as his team struggled again, missing the playoffs with a losing record for the second straight year.

After the incident, the NBA said it reviewed its policies and procedures related to respect in the workplace, and required all NBA teams to do the same. The league also established a confidential hotline for team and league employees to report workplace misconduct.
 
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/19/6496...ricks-reveals-sexual-misconduct-over-20-years

Investigation Into Dallas Mavericks Reveals Sexual Misconduct Over 20 Years
September 19, 20184:10 PM ET
MOLLY EVANS

FROM

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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looks on during a game against the Detroit Pistons in April.

Carlos Osorio/AP
The results of a seven-month-long investigation into sexual harassment and workplace misconduct within the Dallas Mavericks organization over a period spanning more than 20 years were released Wednesday.

Investigators gathered from 215 interviews with current and former employees who worked for the team during the past two decades and evaluated more than 1.6 million documents for the more than 40-page report.

Owner Mark Cuban has agreed to contribute $10 million to women's causes following the workplace investigation.

In February, the Mavericks hired outside counsel to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct by former team president and CEO Terdema Ussery. The independent probe was launched after a Sports Illustrated report described a hostile workplace for women.

Investigators confirmed improper workplace conduct toward 15 female employees by Ussery. He spent 18 years with the team before going to Under Armour in 2015. Ussery, who was investigated by the team over similar claims in 1998, has denied the allegations.

Former Mavericks ticket sales employee Chris Hyde was found by investigators to have made inappropriate sexual comments, view and share pornography, make unsolicited sexual advances and threatening outbursts toward coworkers.

The report also finds that two acts of domestic violence were committed by Mavs.com reporter Earl Sneed, including one against a team employee.

"The women never really knew when they were going to be sexually harassed," Jessica Luther, one of the writers of the SI report, told KERA in February. "[They felt] there was no way to report it in a way that would result in any changes, so it was just part of the job."

Mavs owner Mark Cuban fired Sneed and Human Resources Director Buddy Pittman after learning details of the Sports Illustrated report. Cuban has said he had no prior knowledge of the allegations.

When Cuban talked with KERA-TV earlier this year, he wouldn't comment on the investigation. In an interview Wednesday with ESPN, Cuban apologized to the victims and their families.

"This is not something that just is an incident and then it's over," he said. "It stays with people. It stays with families. I'm just sorry I didn't see it. I'm sorry I didn't' recognize it."

Investigators also made a series of recommendations for the organization including increasing the number of women on staff and in leadership positions, improving formal processes for reporting misconduct, conducting regular anonymous employee surveys and expanding the human resources department.

The NBA is requiring the Mavs to provide the league with quarterly reports about progress on implementing the requirements, to report to the league any instances or allegations of misconduct by any employee, continually update annual "Respect in the Workplace" training for staff and to implement a program to train staff, including ownership, on issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Soon after the SI story, the Mavericks hired Cynthia Marshall as CEO. Marshall and investigator Anne Milgram will be taking questions at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
 
https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/19/ne...mavericks-harassment-investigation/index.html

Mark Cuban to give $10 million to women's groups after probe faults Dallas Mavericks for workplace misconduct
by Jackie Wattles @jackiewattlesSeptember 19, 2018: 4:12 PM ET
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will donate $10 million to women's advocacy groups after an independent investigation found a long history of sexual harassment among team employees.
The investigation found "numerous instances of sexual harassment and other improper workplace conduct" within the organization over more than 20 years, the NBA said Wednesday.
The instances included touching and forcible kissing of women employees by a former team president, as well as other misconduct by a former ticket sales employee and by a former Mavs.com reporter, the league said.

The probe also found that team management was ineffective and "permitted the growth of an environment in which acts of misconduct and the individuals who committed them could flourish," the NBA said.

The NBA said the investigation found no evidence that Cuban was aware of the former team president's misconduct.

Commissioner Adam Silver said Cuban "reacted swiftly, thoroughly and transparently" to the matter and that he is "ultimately responsible for the culture and conduct of his employees."

Cuban said during an emotional interview with ESPN that he is "accountable" for the Mavericks' workplace culture and offered an apology to the women involved.

"In hindsight, it was staring me right in the face and I missed it," Cuban said. "I had a CEO that I deferred to, and that was a mistake."

Cuban declined further comment to CNN.

The investigation, launched under league oversight, began after Sports Illustrated published an article in February thatfocused on allegations against former president Terdema Ussery.

Ussery, who left the team in 2015, denied wrongdoing in a statement to SI.

"I am deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me," he told SI in February.

CNN could not immediately reach Ussery for comment on Wednesday.

The Mavericks conducted an internal review in 1998 after several female employees came forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior against Ussery, according to the investigation's report. But he remained with the team for more than a decade after Cuban took over in 2000.
 
Mavericks Investigation Finds Rampant Sexual Harassment Permitted By "Organizational Shortcomings"

Tom Ley
Today 4:01pm
Filed to: DALLAS MAVERICKS
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Illustration: Jim Cooke (GMG)
After Sports Illustrated published a report on Feb. 20, 2018 detailing the Dallas Mavericks’ culture of misogyny and sexual harassment, the team hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the organization. The result of that investigation, a 43-page report, was released today. It details multiple instances of sexual harassment carried out by Mavericks employees, and concludes that such harassment was allowed to persist because of company-wide mismanagement.


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The report, which can be read in full at the bottom of this page, begins by detailing the full extent of the harassment and inappropriate behavior that took place in the team’s ticket sales office, much of which was first reported by SI and Deadspin. The findings are based on interviews with 215 current and former employees as well as the review of 1.6 million documents. The report focuses on the conduct of former team president and CEO Terdema Ussery, and former employees Chris Hyde and Earl Sneed. From the report:

As set forth in more detail below, we have substantiated claims that include: allegations by fifteen current and former employees regarding inappropriate comments and touching by Terdema Ussery; allegations by dozens of current and former employees that Chris Hyde made inappropriate comments, viewed pornographic images and videos at the office, had a used condom fall out of his pants leg onto the office floor, and had violent and threatening outbursts in the workplace; and allegations by two women, including a former Mavericks employee, that they were victims of domestic violence at the hands of Earl Sneed.

The report then goes on to detail the Mavericks’ institutional failure to respond to allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. The report pins much of the blame for this failure on head of Human Resources Buddy Pittman, who helped foster a “sense of futility with respect to making complaints.” The report details one incident in which Pittman waved off an allegation of harassment against Ussery by a female employee, who then left Pittman’s office in tears:

Former Employee 31 recounted that Pittman said that he had received reports that she had been “coming on” to Ussery by holding his hand and being flirtatious. Pittman then said, “Well that didn’t happen, did it?” He continued, “Because he’ s a married man. You know he’ s a good Christian man. He would never do that.” Former Employee 31 said that she was overwhelmed that Ussery’s inappropriate conduct was being turned around against her. Pittman then asked Former Employee 31, “That didn’t happen, right?” Former Employee 31 believed that Pittman was protecting Ussery and that Pittman wanted her to say that nothing had happened. And so, in response to his question, she said that “nothing had happened.” Former Employee 31 recounted that she cried during the meeting in Pittman’s office. At the end of the meeting, Pittman hugged her and joked, “Now you’re not going to report me, are you?” Former Employee 31 told us that she was “devastated” by the conversation with Pittman and “did not know what to do.”

The biggest question concerned how much team owner Mark Cuban did or did not know about the harassment that was taking place in his organization. The report concludes that Cuban didn’t know anything about Ussery’s behavior, but did make errors in judgment when it came to handling Hyde and Sneed.

The report state that although most of Hyde’s misconduct was not brought to Cuban’s attention, he was aware of “several discrete and problematic incidents” spanning a number of years, including the presence of pornography on Hyde’s work computer, and made a “significant error in judgment” by not firing Hyde sooner.

Regarding the domestic violence allegations made against Sneed, the report concludes that Cuban and other members of the Mavericks organization failed to properly investigate the allegations, choosing instead to “support Sneed despite this lack of information.” The report states that Cuban “failed to respond appropriately” when he decided to retain Sneed without a complete understanding of situation. Cuban would later learn of a second violent incident between Sneed and a coworker, at which point he, according to the report, made another “significant error in judgment” by not firing Sneed.

Overall, the report lets Cuban off the hook, citing a lack of evidence that he was ever told anything about Ussery’s misconduct and his physical distance from the business office. From the report:

While there is no question that Cuban is an active owner, he was rarely physically present in the Mavericks’ business office. As both Cuban and many employees expressed in their interviews, Cuban spent the majority of his time overseeing the basketball operations division, which until fall of 2017 was located three miles from the Mavericks’ business office. His involvement in business operations, on the other hand, was often undertaken remotely via email.

As Cuban acknowledged in his interview, “you have to be around the culture to see the culture; I learned the hard way.” Because he so often gave direction remotely and did not have scheduled in-person meetings with Ussery or other senior staff, Cuban was not “around the culture.” His absence from the business office kept him from appreciating either the full scope of the misconduct at the Company or the workplace culture at the business office.

As to the specific allegations made against Ussery, we have not identified any instances in which Cuban was informed of misconduct by Ussery. Indeed, not a single victim of Ussery’s harassment, or any other person, reported that he or she informed Cuban of the misconduct.

The report concludes by making a number of recommendations, which include increasing the number of women in leadership and supervisory positions and conducting anonymous workplace culture surveys. The NBA’s official statement about the report says that Cuban has promised to “contribute $10 million to organizations that are committed to supporting the leadership and development of women in the sports industry and combating domestic violence.”
 
playahaitian said:
and btw this entire thing is WRONG by the NBA

he NEEDED to be fined MORE and suspended

he didn't just have sex harassment

but didn't hire ANY Black people for exec positions!

they must have worn hoodies to the interview.
Click to expand...
Your right. NBA covered this shit up smooth like Jimmy Conway covered up the Lufthansa heist. :smh:

5HZ7Km.jpg
 
Women want to be in the locker rooms but then want to be treaten special. .

Mofokr dudes are crass and uncivilized to each other...

But on a side note what did ole girl get from the knicks ?
 
ballscout1 said:
Women want to be in the locker rooms but then want to be treaten special. .

Mofokr dudes are crass and uncivilized to each other...

But on a side note what did ole girl get from the knicks ?
Click to expand...
So true. The caping for white women tears is getting crazy. Part of their bullshit is creating and exploiting double standards.

Team wouldn't have missed a beat in the last 20 years if it were just run by men. Moving forward, folks in certain industries just ain't going to be hiring white women. Period. Too much damn drama for nothing.
 

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