[MavKikiNYC]

Knicks' Thomasin harass suit
Fired worker claims he made sexual advances
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Knicks President and basketball legend Isiah Thomas was at the center of a bombshell lawsuit last night after a senior female employee alleged she had been the target of harassment. Anucha Browne Sanders, the team's former high-profile senior vice president of marketing, filed papers against the hoops great in Manhattan Federal Court yesterday - claiming Thomas called her a "b----" and asked her to have sex.

She said when she refused his advances, the 44-year-old married father replied: "What? I can't get any love today?"

Thomas' legal team immediately branded Browne Sanders an opportunist - charging her complaints followed a failed attempt to extort $6 million. And the lawyers charged she was using Hall of Famer Thomas' standing to aid her case.

"This lawsuit is a blatant attempt by Anucha Browne Sanders to get a large sum of money from Madison Square Garden by taking advantage of the celebrity status of our client," said Thomas' attorneys Peter Parcher and Sue Ellen Eisenberg.

"While still employed, she demanded from the Garden, as a condition of her departure, a payment of $6 million, which is more than 20 years of her salary."

But Browne Sanders says Thomas' alleged shabby treatment of her was so public that team members - including star player Stephon Marbury - joined in the abuse.

"The Knicks' star player felt free to refer to Browne Sanders as a 'black b----,'" the lawsuit states.
In another accusation sure to draw major attention, Browne Sanders claims Thomas worked with concierges at hotels frequented by visiting teams to encourage out-of-town players to go to certain bars and strip clubs and get drunk the night before a day game.

Thomas launched his alleged campaign against Browne Sanders - a former college basketball standout who became a rising executive - in March 2004, following a loss by the struggling Knicks, the suit claims.
He blamed their poor performance on a late-night public relations event the night before.

"Thomas grabbed Browne Sanders' arm and pulled her into a small room to the side of the team's locker room," the papers claim. "He yelled that the team was not going to do 'any more f------ events.'"

Browne Sanders was barred from speaking directly to team members, she said - a situation that got so bad she was forced to use cardboard cutouts of players in marketing campaigns.

A few months later, the 43-year-old mother of three from Short Hills, N.J., contends, Thomas made sexual advances.

"After the Knicks game on December 30, 2004, Thomas stopped Browne Sanders, hugged her tightly and said that he had determined why he and Browne Sanders 'had problems' with one another," the suit says.
"Thomas told Browne Sanders he was 'in love' with her."
The suit claims such advances became regular, and that she complained to team higherups - though no action was taken.
"On more than one occasion, [Thomas asked her] if she would meet with him outside of the office or 'offsite,'" the lawsuit contends. "Browne Sanders understood these requests as sexual advances, which she refused."

Browne Sanders also said she was ordered by Garden chairman James Dolan to create positions for unqualified employees - including two cousins of Marbury's and Dolan's gardener.

The situation came to a head last month. A Garden source said last night, "Before Christmas, she went to the management and said, 'Look, I'm a victim of harassment and I don't think I can work here anymore.'

"The Knicks said they would do a full investigation and she should take time off while that was done.
"Two or three days ago, she was officially fired. She said, 'If you want to let me go, you should pay me $6 million.'

"She was screaming and yelling and her behavior was erratic. The Garden made a tough call because it would have been easy for them to come to some kind of settlement, but they feel nothing has been done wrong here."
Browne Sanders' lawsuit, which claims discrimination and charges she was fired in retaliation for complaining, demands her reinstatement and a payment of damages. It doesn't state an amount.

Ron Green, the Garden's attorney, said last night, "This fabricated and outrageous charge comes from an individual who Madison Square Garden fired because of an inability to fulfill her professional responsibilities, and who is now seeking a financial windfall.

"We will fight these outrageous charges and defend our employees from allegations intended to embarrass and do harm to them."

But Kevin Mintzer, representing Browne Sanders, said, "Mr. Green was in our offices [yesterday] and acknowledged she had substantial claims.

"Even celebrities are not above the law, and it's pathetic that [Thomas] should hide behind his celebrity status. The $6 million claim is false, and [his legal team] know[s] it."

Browne Sanders was hired by the Knicks five years ago by Thomas' predecessor, Scott Layden. She became the only female senior manager at the Knicks - and a rising star in sports marketing who even had her own page in the Knicks yearbook.

Thomas, who has two children with his wife, Lynn, has her full support, said the source.

"She is outraged. She is totally 100% standing by his side," he said. "This is all done to embarrass him and get some money."