By Brad Townsend
The Dallas Morning News
Results of a seven-month investigation of the Dallas Mavericks organization released on Wednesday confirm “numerous instances of sexual harassment and other improper workplace conduct” spanning more than 20 years.
Allegations came to light in an explosive Feb. 20 Sports Illustrated story and were further detailed through reporting by The Dallas Morning News.
The investigation cited no wrongdoing by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, but Cuban, due to what the investigation and the NBA termed “institutional and other failures,” agreed to contribute $10 million to organizations committed to supporting the leadership and development of women in the sports industry and combating domestic violence. There will be no basketball-related penalties as a result of the investigation.
During an at-times tearful interview that aired Wednesday on ESPN, Cuban apologized to the women who had been victimized during his 18-year ownership tenure.
“To the women involved, and the women who were in a couple of case assaulted,” Cuban said. “Not just to them, but to their families. Because this is not just something that’s an incident and then it’s over. It stays with people and it stays with families.
“I’m just sorry I didn’t see it. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize it. I just hope that out of this we’ll be better and we can avoid it and we can help make everybody just smarter about the whole thing.”
The investigation, conducted by Mavericks-hired investigators Anne Milgram and Evan Krutoy and Krutoy Law, reached these conclusions, among others:
—Improper workplace conduct toward 15 female employees by former Mavericks president Terdema Ussery. Those incidents, the report stated, included “inappropriate comments, touching, and forcible kissing.”
—Improper workplace conduct by former Mavericks ticket sales executive Chris Hyde. The report concluded that Hyde made “inappropriate comments to women of a sexual nature,” viewed and shared pornographic images and videos and made unwanted sexual advances and violent and threatening outbursts toward co-workers.
—Confirmed two acts of domestic violence by former Mavs.com reporter Earl Sneed, including one against a team employee.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver commended the Mavericks organization for the sweeping cultural and structural changes that have been made during the past seven months under CEO Cynthia Marshall, but Silver also called the investigations findings “disturbing and heartbreaking.”
“No employee in the NBA, or any workplace for that matter, should be subject to the type of working environment described in the report,” Silver said.
“We appreciate that Mark Cuban reacted swiftly, thoroughly and transparently to the allegations … but as Mark has acknowledged, he is ultimately responsible for the culture and conduct of his employees. While nothing will undo the harm caused by a select few former employees of the Mavericks, the workplace reforms and the $10 million that Mark has agreed to contribute are important steps toward rectifying this past behavior and shining a light on a pervasive societal failing —the inability of too many organizations to provide a safe and welcoming workplace for women.”
The 43-page Milgram-Krutoy report concluded that the Mavericks’ executive leadership was ineffective, specifically in terms of setting compliance and internal controls.
The lack of control, the investigators determined, cultivated an environment in which misconduct went largely unabated and victims felt helpless, that even if they reported incidents to supervisors nothing would come of it.
The investigators interviewed 215 current and former Mavericks employees and culled more than 1.6 million documents and emails spanning Cuban’s 18 years of ownership and several years prior.
“The investigators found no evidence that Mr. Cuban was aware of Mr. Ussery’s misconduct,” the NBA noted in its response to the investigation. “None of the 215 witnesses who were interviewed stated that they informed Mr. Cuban of Mr. Ussery’s actions, the investigators found no documentary evidence of such a communication, and Mr. Cuban stated that he did not know about the conduct.”
In 1998, The Dallas Morning News reported that Ussery was the subject of an internal investigation, after several female employees stepped forward to say they were sexually harassed by Ussery. At the time, the franchise was owned by Ross Perot Jr.
Ussery, however, remained with the organization after Cuban purchased the franchise in January 2000. He remained until 2015, when he left for an executive position at Under Armour, though he departed that company three months later.
In April of this year, Cuban told The News that he was unaware of the 1998 Ussery investigation at the time he negotiated to purchase the team, or anytime afterward.
“There was no discussion of anybody being under investigation for anything,” Cuban said. “There were no negatives implied because otherwise that would have gone into the pricing equation.”
