Sexual harassment trial begins vs. Knicks coach NEW YORK -- The former Knicks executive who filed a $10 million sexual harassment lawsuit against Isiah Thomas was a rising star forced to fend off the NBA great's clumsy advances, her lawyer told a jury Tuesday. But defense attorney Kathleen Bogas described Anucha Browne Sanders as a liar who made up charges against Thomas to mask her incompetence. Browne Sanders was "a woman who was fired from her dream job because she dared to complain about sexual harassment by Isiah Thomas," her attorney, Anne Vladeck, said in opening arguments in federal court in Manhattan. Vladeck accused Thomas, the team's president and coach, of initially abusing Browne Sanders by referring to her as a "ho" before he made "an about-face and repeatedly professed his love for her." Thomas, a former Detroit Pistons guard who in 1996 was voted one of the NBA's top 50 players of all-time, has acknowledged that in December 2005 he tried to kiss Browne Sanders on the cheek at a Knicks game and asked "No love today?" when she pulled away, according to court papers. But the Knicks coach has disputed her allegations that he asked her to "go off site" with him for private time. In her opening statement, Bogas told the jury of five men and three women that Thomas never cursed at the plaintiff or propositioned her in any way. "He emphatically denies he ever used those words to or about Ms. Browne Sanders," the lawyer said. Bogas described Browne Sanders, a former Northwestern basketball star, as a physically imposing woman who was savvy enough to navigate the trash-talking world of professional basketball. "She's a tall woman -- with heels on, taller than Isiah Thomas," she said. Browne Sanders is seeking reinstatement to her job as senior vice present of marketing and business operations. She has also demanded hefty damages after spending five years with the storied franchise. The plaintiff contends that despite being showered with raises and bonuses for most of her tenure, the Knicks fired her in January 2006 in retaliation for telling the truth about Thomas. Madison Square Garden, which owns the team, insists her dismissal came after a series of marketing and budgeting failures and after MSG Chairman James Dolan discovered she had tried to subvert an internal investigation of her harassment claims. Dolan, also a defendant in the case, decided Browne Sanders "could not be counted on to do her job after that," said MSG lawyer Ronald Green. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3014421
C'mon now, why is it whenever legal issues hit the media, whatever athlete is involved is automatically guilty? Folks don't even give them a chance. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Seriously, how would people like it if you had some sort of legal troubles whatever it could be, and people first assumption is that you are in the wrong. Now, I ain't saying shes a gold diggin w****, but she's not messing with no regular dudes.
Really? My impression has been that, on this BBS, athletes are given too much benefit of the doubt, especially when it comes to civil suits from women. Every time, the woman is a gold-digger, if you believed this site.
i'm going to decide (until i see something completely contradictory) that if she was there for five years, got raises and bonuses, and her evaluations were strong, then she's going to win it. that has more to do with my knowledge about how work places are than thomas.
I disagree. We hear the Kobe rape jokes all the time. Juwan and the sunglasses joke. Just recently, everything going down with Rafer, especially the stabbing/slashing incident. According to many eyewitnesses it never happened, although that didn't stop some posters from getting on Rafer. Even the whole Justin Weed situation. Everyone wrote him off but then it comes back that he's completely innocent and the weed was not even is, including the fact that he never failed a drug test.
So she's a bit masculine. We're talking about the guy who exchanged kisses with Magic Johnson before every game!
Sure, you hear some Kobe rape jokes, but that's mostly because people don't like Kobe. As for his guilt, it seemed like most people here quickly concluded that she was looking to cash in. We also joke about Juwan and his sunglasses, but I don't know how many people actually think he shoplifted. I think most people have a hard time believing he'd do that, considering he has 8 bazillion dollars. But, because he wasn't better than adequate on the court, we may as well take a pot-shot at his expense. It seems like a lot of people assumed the worst about Rafer. As for Justin Reed, don't tell me he's completely innocent; we can stick with not guilty. How many times have NBA players been busted for possession of drugs, guns, or whatever, only to later be bailed out by an admission of guilt by someone in his posse. That's standard procedure in the NBA -- friends take the rap for NBA players, so they won't lose contracts/endorsements/money. He could be telling the truth on this incident, but I wouldn't say anything has been proven. But, I was speaking mostly on civil suits by women. Divorces, rape allegations, child support, whatever... you'll always get a dozen posters saying the woman is a gold-digger.
