NBA Releases Statement Regarding Independent Investigation into Dallas Mavericks Workplace

The NBA today issued the following statement regarding the report of independent investigators on working conditions in the Dallas Mavericks, following allegations made on February 20, 2018. Illustrated Sports Article:

After hearing the allegations, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban notified the NBA and an independent investigation was launched under the supervision of the league office. Anne Milgram, former Attorney General of New Jersey, a professor of practice and senior researcher at the University of New York Law School and currently Special Advisor to Lowenstein Sandler LLP, and Evan Krutoy, who was a prosecutor for more of 20 years in Manhattan. The district attorney's office, currently headed by Krutoy Law, PC, conducted a seven-month investigation. The league's supervisory function was led by David Anders, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and a former deputy attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The report was based on information gathered from 215 interviews with former and current Maverick employees who worked for the team over the past two decades and from the evaluation of more than 1.6 million documents, including e-mails and other electronic documents.

Following the launch of the independent investigation, the Mavericks, led by Mr. Cuban, hired a new Executive Director, Cynthia Marshall, a former AT & T executive. Cuban and Marshall have taken a series of steps to improve the team's policies and procedures in the workplace.

Under Marshall's leadership, the Mavericks have replaced or added several new executive positions within the organization, including a new Human Resources Officer, a Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, a Senior Vice President, and a senior executive. diversity and inclusion.

The Mavericks also instituted mandatory "Respect in the Workplace" training for all employees and owners; created a confidential help line allowing employees to share concerns, problems or allegations of misconduct; and established employee resource teams and an external advisory board to ensure a more diverse and collaborative work environment.

The thorough investigation by Ms. Milgram and Mr. Krutoy, with the full cooperation of Mr. Cuban and the Mavericks organization, provided a better understanding of the scope and content of the issues.

Among the main conclusions of the survey:

• The investigation has underpinned many cases of sexual harassment and other inappropriate workplace behaviors within the Mavericks organization for over twenty years.
• Among other things, the investigation revealed:
  • Terdema Ussery, former president and chief executive officer of Mavericks, has shown inappropriate conduct at his workplace, including inappropriate comments, touching and forced kisses;
  • Chris Hyde, a former ticket sales employee at Mavericks, did not act appropriately in the workplace: comments from women who are sexually active, viewing and sharing pornographic images and videos, sexual advances unsolicited and unwanted; and
  • Two acts of domestic violence perpetrated by former Mavs.com journalist Earl Sneed, including one against a staff member.
• Investigators concluded that the management of Mavericks was ineffective, including lack of compliance with rules and internal controls, and that these deficiencies created an environment conducive to the commission of misconduct and the perpetrators. In particular, the investigators found:
  • The Mavericks management team did not respond adequately and made a serious miscalculation in retaining Mr. Sneed as a result of his domestic violence incidents; and
  • The Mavericks management team was responsible for allowing Mr. Hyde to remain employed within the organization despite his inappropriate and problematic behavior, and failed to cope with his misconduct.
• The investigators found no evidence that Mr. Cuban was aware of Mr. Ussery's misconduct. None of the 215 witnesses interviewed said that they had informed Mr. Cuban of Ussery's actions, the investigators found no documentary evidence of the communication, and Mr. Cuban stated that he was not aware of the conduct.

The investigation report also contains a series of recommendations to change the organization of the Mavericks, including:

• Increase the number of women in the workforce, including in management positions;
• Improvement of official reporting processes for victims of misconduct;
• Establishment of regular anonymous surveys of employees to assess the culture of the workplace; and
• Expand and improve the Mavericks Human Resources department and put in place clear protocols for investigating misconduct.

The report confirms that many of these steps have already been taken, including the hiring of Marshall and other new women leaders, and notes that "the employees told us of a dramatic change in the Mavericks' work environment. , which started almost immediately. following the publication of the Illustrated Sports article.

Recognizing the institutional failures and other setbacks in the report, Cuban has agreed to provide $ 10 million to organizations that are committed to supporting women's leadership and development in the sport industry and fighting domestic violence. . These organizations will be selected by an advisory board of Mavericks leaders, including Mr. Cuban and Ms. Marshall, and the NBA, including the Chair of Social Responsibility and Gamer Programs Kathy Behrens, President of Team Marketing and Business Operations and Innovation Leader Amy Brooks and Head of Diversity and Inclusion Oris Stuart.

In addition, the NBA requires the Mavericks:

• Provide the league office with quarterly reports on the recommendations contained in the report and their implementation;
• Report immediately to the league office any case or allegation of serious misconduct on the part of an employee;
• Improve and continuously update the annual Respect in the Workplace training for all staff, including property; and
• Implement a training program for all staff, including property, on issues related to family violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

"The findings of the independent investigation are troubling and heartbreaking and no employee of the NBA, or any other workplace, should be subjected to the type of work environment described in the report," he said. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. "We appreciate that Mark Cuban has responded quickly, thoroughly and transparently to the allegations Illustrated Sports – including the immediate hiring of Cynthia Marshall as CEO to make changes, but as Mark has acknowledged, he is ultimately responsible for the culture and conduct of his employees. While nothing comes to fix the wrongs done by some former Maverick employees, the workplace reforms and the $ 10 million that Mark has agreed to contribute are important steps toward correcting this past behavior and highlighting the role of the Mavericks. Inability of too many organizations to provide a safe and welcoming workplace for women.

Following the allegations made in Illustrated Sports article, the NBA conducted a thorough review of its existing workplace compliance policies and procedures, and demanded that all NBA teams do the same. In addition, the league has established a league-wide confidential phone line for team and league employees to report workplace misconduct, including sexual harassment. discrimination and retaliation. Although many of the recommendations contained in the investigation report are already part of the practice established at the league office, all those that are not will soon be adopted.

The report of the independent inquiry is available here.