Oh Isiah!
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by Isaacand
As an Isiah Thomas fan my entire life, Ive withstood a lot of grief. Kissing Magic, blowing up the CBA, terrible trades, taking on bad contracts, etc...
And as this sexual harassment trial winds down, it becomes apparent that maybe Zeke just cannot be defended anymore.
Because, if there is one major fact that sticks out in this case, its this:
Thomas, who is married with two children, acknowledged trying to kiss Browne Sanders in December 2005, asking her "No love today?" when she recoiled.
That, in itself constitutes sexual harassment. That, in itself constitutes stupidity at the highest level.
Who does that in a working environment Isiah?
If Isiah was reprimanded or even fired for his behavior, this trial would not have happened.
Or would it?
Let's dig a little deeper.
By many accounts, Anucha Browne Sanders was not good at her job. She could not handle a marketing budget and could not completely comprehend profit/loss statements. To make things clearer, Sanders was the VP of Marketing and did not even understand simple stuff on Tax returns like Schedule C.
She even admitted to MSG CEO Steve Mills that she was overwhelmed by her job.
MSG Sports CEO Steve Mills testified he'd never heard one Thomas-related complaint from the plaintiff until an e-mail sent Dec. 15, 2005, one month after she had already approached him in tears about being overwhelmed by her position and wanting to leave. According to Mills, Browne Sanders told him "she's lost the confidence of the people she worked with, and she can't do this anymore. I agreed." Mills also testified that he agreed to keep Browne Sanders on the payroll while she searched for another job. A few weeks later, she filed a lawsuit.
(http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070927)
So after she had already began looking for another job, she decided to file a lawsuit against her current employer?
Something stinks here right?
But it does not stop there.
-Brown Sanders went around the office trying to get people to back up her claims about Thomas
-Asked for 6 million dollars to keep quiet
Does that sound like a woman who was devastated by someone's advances towards her?
You know what it seems like to me?
Anucha Browne Sanders was not good at her job and when she thought she was going to get fired or even quit, she said, "How much money can I get out of this?"
Make no mistake about it, Isiah is guilty of sexual harassment. And as dumb as he is for trying to kiss someone at the office, and as dumb as the entire MSG organization is for not taking appropriate action, it should not hide the fact that somebody was not good at their job and wanted to leave.
Punitive damages will come down and I suspect that it will be in the multi-million dollar range, but truthfully, Anucha Browne Sanders deserves nothing more than her two weeks severance pay.
http://theworldofisaac.blogspot.com/2007/10/oh-isiah.html
