Download the latest on sexual harassment cases

THE LATEST ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASES
* Filings of sexual harassment claims are on the decline. Allegations peaked in 2000
when nearly 16,000 claims were filed with the EEOC and state agencies. 12,025 sexual
harassment claims were filed in 2006.
* Isaiah Thomas case
Complaint
http://a1022.g.akamai.net/f/1022/8160/5m/images.newsday.com/media/acrobat/200601/21635742.pdf
Former basketball star and current New York Knicks coach, Isaiah Thomas, was found
guilty of sexual harassment, and Madison Square Garden was found guilty of wrongful
termination in federal court. The suit revolved around the firing of Knicks marketing
executive Anucha Browne Sanders. She herself had been a college star before joining the
Knicks as a $260,000-a-year marketing executive and vice president of operations.
Browne Sanders alleged that Thomas had subjected her to hostility and sexual
advances starting in 2004, after he arrived as team president. She alleged the atmosphere
surrounding her work became ''a hostile environment,'' despite her complaints to officials
at Madison Square Garden.
Her firing came after she complained that Thomas had propositioned her and
repeatedly harassed her by saying she was ''easy on the eyes.'' In addition, Thomas was
charged with referring to her as a ''bitch'' on more than one occasion.
Madison Square Garden owes $6 million for condoning a hostile work environment
and $2.6 million for retaliation. Dolan, the CEO of Garden owner Cablevision Systems
Corp., must pay an additional $3 million.
The jury of four women and three men needed roughly two days to decide on the
allegations, but only about an hour to pile on the damages at the close of a three-week
trial rife with accounts of crude language and sexual escapades behind the scenes of a
storied franchise.
The jurors had heard Browne Sanders testify that Thomas, after arriving as team
president in 2004, routinely addressed her as "bitch" and "ho" in outbursts over marketing
commitments. He later did an abrupt about-face, declaring his love and suggesting an
"off-site" liaison, she said. She parried sexual advances from the coach. Knicks star
Stephon Marbury, who testified at the trial, admitted to demeaning and insulting her as
well. Mr. Marbury, who is married, also owned up to having sex with an intern in his car
after a strip-joint outing.
Thomas, while admitting to using foul language around Browne Sanders, insisted he
never directed it toward her. Degrading a woman in the workplace "is never OK," said
Thomas, himself a married father of two. "It is never appropriate."
Dolan and a string of other executives also took the witness stand to deny that they
tolerated or witnessed sexual harassment. They testified that Browne Sanders was fired
from her $260,000-a-year job because she was incompetent on budget matters, and
because she sought to undermine an internal inquiry into her allegations against Thomas.