Jury Finds Against Isiah Thomas, Madison Square Garden
Getty Images
A jury just ruled against Isiah Thomas in the harassment suit filed against him by Anucha Brown Sanders, awarding the former New York Knicks executive $11.6 M. But it's not Mr. Thomas who'll have to pay it:
A verdict earlier Tuesday found that New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas had sexually harassed Browne Sanders, subjecting her to unwanted advances and a barrage of verbal insults, but also said he does not have to pay punitive damages.
But the jury did find that Madison Square Garden committed harassment against the woman, and decided that she is entitled to punitive damages from MSG.
M.S.G. says it will appeal.
Where on God's earth is Al Sharpton?
Sharpton's conspicuous absence is further proof that his campaign against Imus was nothing more than a race-based "hit" carried out under the thin, convenient pretext of gender equality and women's rights.
A jury seated in New York City, Sharpton's hometown, just concluded that a famous black executive harassed, demeaned, and humiliated a black woman, and Sharpton is nowhere to be found.
At his deposition, Isiah Thomas, appeared smugly ambivalent when asked whether he found it offensive when a black man called a black woman a bitch. But when asked whether he found it offensive when a white man called a black woman a bitch, he seemed to suddenly recapture his moral indignation.
That, of course, was pure, unabashed racism from Thomas, but as is often the case, it was largely ignored by the media, which routinely portray black racism as either forgivable or, worse yet, justified.