The Verdict Is In

Today's big news here in Manhattan is that a jury found that Isiah Thomas, the coach of the New York Knicks, did commit sexual harassment against Anucha Browne Sanders, a former employee, and that Madison Square Garden should pay $11.6 million in damages for wrongfully terminating her in retaliation of her harassment allegations. I have no idea what genius at MSG decided not to settle this suit, but the last month has been an absolute public-relations nightmare for the Knicks. This verdict ensures that the result is a financial nightmare as well. The tab: Madison Square Garden owes $6 million for condoning a hostile work environment and $2.6 million for retaliation. Chairman James Dolan owes $3 million for his role. Even if the verdict gets reversed on appeal, the legal fees in this case will be astronomical.

Since I have a special interest in the trial attorneys who litigated this mess, I thought I would share a little about the first-chairs on either side (something you probably haven’t heard on the news).

The case is a big victory for Anne Vladeck of a name partner in the small firm Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard here in New York. Vladeck who earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania and her law degree at Columbia law school, is an adjunct professor at Columbia. She focuses her practice on employment matters, including discrimination, sexual harassment, defamation, union-side labor law, and litigation.

On the losing team is Ronald Green, co-founder and name partner at Epstein Green & Becker. Green tops the wish-list for corporate executives needing representation when sued for sexual harassment. He also has a rather long list of letters after his name. He earned his bachelor degree at NYU, then earned his juris doctorate at Brooklyn Law, followed by an LL.M. at George Washington University in Labor Law. According to the bio from his firm, he has a Ph.D. pending at the University of Cincinnati (I wonder what that is in). Before co-founding his firm, Green served as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He then gained labor regulatory expertise while working for the U.S. Department of Labor (working in the areas of contract compliance and civil rights).

The verdict now brings more questions to my mind than answers. For instance, how long will the appeals go on?

The defendants have made if very clear they will appeal, even arrogantly implying they will win—but on what grounds do they plan to appeal? Will an appeals court find any reversible error?

Will David Stern and the NBA just turn a blind eye to the reprehensible behavior that the jury concluded occurred? Players get fined for not wearing a suit and tie before and after games, but this is ok? Really? Dallas Mavrick’s owner Mark Cuban gets fined millions for making remarks the NBA deems to be out of line, but with a straight face they say this isn’t their problem?

The jury clearly believed the plaintiff over Isiah Thomas: shocking testimony came out in court of Thomas making horrible remarks about the fans who buy Knick’s tickets. According to plaintiff Anucha Browne Sanders, Thomas said he didn't gave a ... uh, "hoot" about white-season ticket holders. Will the fans really stand for this?

In the basketball world, there is the near unanimous opinion that Thomas has done an utterly horrible job with the Knicks. How long can this man stay employed? For several years, MSG chairman James Dolan has passionately defended Thomas and his blunders. Why? How long will this last?