Garden CEO slams Isiah accuser's claims

BY JOHN VALENTI AND MATTHEW CHAYES
12:36 PM EDT, September 19, 2007

The president and chief operating officer of Madison Square Garden Sports, testifying in federal court Wednesday, contradicted claims by fired Garden executive Anucha Browne-Sanders that she had complained to him about sexual harassment and verbal abuse by embattled New York Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas.

Instead, Steve Mills said, as the defense opened its case in the $10.3-million illegal termination and harassment lawsuit, Browne-Sanders had only complained about business disputes with Thomas.

Testifying in the courtroom of Judge Gerard Lynch at Federal District Court in Manhattan, Mills told the jury Wednesday morning that Browne-Sanders had never complained to him about the use of profanity by Thomas or of any romantic or sexual overtures by Thomas in 2004 or 2005. This contradicted claims by Browne-Sanders and witnesses, who earlier testified she was the victim of sexual harassment and abuse.

Responding to questioning by Garden lead attorney Ronald Green, Mills said: "Anucha complained to me about a lot of things. She wasn't happy with Isiah's lack of response to things . . . "

"There was always tension in the relationship, business relationship" between the two of them, Mills said of Thomas and Browne-Sanders.

But Mills said the complaints lodged by Browne-Sanders were regarding normal turf disputes between the business side of the Garden operation and the basketball operations headed by Thomas.

Earlier in the civil trial, Browne-Sanders said she had complained to Mills after many of the incidents she said occurred -- incidents in which, she testified during the proceedings, Thomas had cursed at her and sexually harassed her.

Mills testified that Browne-Sanders had made many blunders during her tenure, including having promotional murals posted outside the Garden arena that featured basketball players who had been traded.

He called it "embarrassing."

Mills also detailed a 2005 meeting with Garden chairman James Dolan during which Browne-Sanders supplied incorrect financial information. He said Dolan became so upset that he finally told Browne-Sanders "just stop talking."

Earlier Wednesday morning, according to The Associated Press, Judge Lynch said Browne-Sanders' attorneys had presented a "weak case" that the New York Knicks coach was involved in the woman's firing.

"Of all the claims in this case, this is the one that looks to be a stretch," Lynch said.

Lynch nonetheless denied a defense motion to dismiss that claim in Browne-Sanders' $10 million lawsuit against Thomas and Madison Square Garden.

Posted by Bippity10:

That's friggin hilarious. I heard her big promotional campaign this year was to feature Howard Eisley and Clarence Weatherspoon.

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by Bippity10:

That's friggin hilarious. I heard her big promotional campaign this year was to feature Howard Eisley and Clarence Weatherspoon.

She has a very difficult job considering Isiah makes a trade or buys out a player(s) every other day. Hard to keep up with who's here and who isn't. I mean if you look at the Payroll from last yr Allan Hosuton and Shandon Adnerson were still on it I believe. She should have been able to handle that though amidst all the turnover.

Posted by bigbeast:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by Bippity10:

That's friggin hilarious. I heard her big promotional campaign this year was to feature Howard Eisley and Clarence Weatherspoon.

She has a very difficult job considering Isiah makes a trade or buys out a player(s) every other day. Hard to keep up with who's here and who isn't. I mean if you look at the Payroll from last yr Allan Hosuton and Shandon Anderson were still on it I believe. She should have been able to handle that though amidst all the turnover.

It might be difficult for a casual fan to keep up. But thier is no excusing her blunders when she works for the organization and is paid a nice coin to be ontop of things.

Posted by bigbeast:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by bigbeast:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by Bippity10:

That's friggin hilarious. I heard her big promotional campaign this year was to feature Howard Eisley and Clarence Weatherspoon.

She has a very difficult job considering Isiah makes a trade or buys out a player(s) every other day. Hard to keep up with who's here and who isn't. I mean if you look at the Payroll from last yr Allan Hosuton and Shandon Anderson were still on it I believe. She should have been able to handle that though amidst all the turnover.

It might be difficult for a casual fan to keep up. But thier is no excusing her blunders when she works for the organization and is paid a nice coin to be ontop of things.

I essentially said that bigbeast in my last sentence. Reading is fundamental.

Reading is Fundamental? Is it necessary for you to always sound like an obnoxious A**? What is the point of adding reading is fundamental? There wasn't a hint of malice in my response nor was it confrontational.

And if you really want to get technical, what is the point of telling us how difficult her job is in the first sentence, only to end it off by stating she should have been able to do her job anyway? All the fluff (or taking a jab at Isiah for his roster turnover) should have been edited out from the get go.


[Edited by - bigbeast on 19-09-2007 7:39 PM]

[Edited by - bigbeast on 19-09-2007 7:40 PM]

Posted by islesfan:

Must be why they kept giving her bonuses and raises as well as glowing reviews.

The judge didn't say her entire case was weak. Just that part about Isiah being involved in her firing. If Dolan says it was all him, then that is a weak element of her case. But it's great for her wrongful termination case.

In October 2005, Mills testified that he was incredulous that a large photographic mural outside the Garden showed the players traded to Chicago for Eddy Curry, but not Curry himself.

“She told me it went up and she hadn’t heard about the trade; she said if she’d known earlier, she wouldn’t have stopped it,” he said, adding that she told him that Thomas “makes so many trades,” she didn’t know how often the mural would have to be changed to accommodate the roster turnover.