Isiah Thomas Found Guilty Of Sexually Harassing New York Knicks Executive

Isiah Thomas has long been criticized for his management of the New York Knicks roster and coaching staff, but on Tuesday the former Toronto Raptors GM had bigger problems to deal with after a jury ruled he sexually harassed a former top team executive, subjecting her to unwanted advances and verbal insults.

The jury also found that Madison Square Garden committed harassment against Anucha Browne Sanders, and ruled that MSG, though not Thomas, should have to pay punitive damages to the tune of $11.6 million.

The harassment verdict was widely expected after the jury sent a note to the judge Monday indicating it believed Thomas and the other defendants, Madison Square Garden and MSG chairman James Dolan, sexually harassed Browne Sanders, who initially filed a $10 million lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Gerard E. Lynch called it an “imminently reasonable” verdict for the mother of three.

When the verdict was announced, Browne Sanders hugged family members and friends gathered in the back of the courtroom. Thomas briefly huddled with his lawyers before leaving the Manhattan courthouse and stepping into a full-fledged media frenzy.

Browne Sanders was fired from her $260,000 a year job in 2006, when she turned on MSG in a suit which presented the company as “Animal House” in sneakers, a place where nepotism, sexism, crude remarks and crass language were part of the culture. The former Northwestern basketball star also characterized Thomas as a foul-mouthed lout who initially berated her as a “bitch” and a “ho.”

For his part, Thomas continues to deny all allegations, with his lawyers portraying Browne Sanders as incompetent and unable to adapt once the former NBA star player arrived as the Knicks’ president.

“That’s not about sexual harassment,” MSG lawyer Ronald Green said. “That’s about team politics.”
  
Thomas, who is married with two children, acknowledged trying to kiss Browne Sanders in 2005, asking her “No love today?” when she recoiled. In her closing argument, Browne Sanders’ lawyer Anne Vladeck made note of Thomas’ charismatic style and incandescent grin.

“There is no question Mr. Thomas can be charming and flash an engaging smile,” she told the jury. “That does not give him the right to treat Browne Sanders like she is his woman.”
  
Dolan, who testified before Thomas, said he dismissed Browne Sanders after learning she was pressuring Garden subordinates to bolster her complaint.
  
But even with the partial victory for Thomas, the three-week trial has been a public relations disaster for the organization, focusing on its tawdriest aspects including star guard Stephon Marbury having sex with an intern outside a strip club, raunchy come-ons from a Marbury cousin to his Garden co-workers, and Thomas’ videotaped remarks about the racial dynamics of calling a woman “a bitch.”