Anucha Browne Sanders V. Isiah Thomas & Madison Square Gardens

Stephanie Perry

Human Resources Management

Prof. Jennifer Toler

Legal Case Study #1

Anucha Browne Sanders V. Isiah Thomas & Madison Square Gardens

        From the research I have found about this case, a Madison Square Garden executive was fired, after what she claimed was sexual harassment from the New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas.   Miss Sanders alleged that Coach Thomas soon began subjecting her to a hostile work environment with sexual advances after his hiring.  Miss Sanders filed a complaint with the Madison Square Garden Company and roughly a month later, Miss Sanders was fired.  Miss Sanders alleged that the firing was a direct result of her filing the sexual harassment claim against Coach Thomas.  A jury found in favor of Miss Sanders and a judge awarded her $11.6 million dollars.  It was allocated that $6 million was awarded because of the hostile work environment, and the remaining $5.6 million was for the illegal firing.

1. The employee, Miss Sanders did the correct thing in this case in addressing her concerns with the company and filing a complaint against Coach Thomas.  The employer, Madison Square Garden in this case, did the inappropriate thing by firing Miss Sanders.  Because we as the public are given a very small piece of information, we do not know for sure if Miss Sander’s performance was up to their normal standards.  At the very least, Coach Thomas should have been called in and made known of these allegations.  Madison Square Gardens should also have separated the two so they are not working directly with each other so that both will be more comfortable.  
2. As I mentioned above, we are not aware of the reasoning that Madison Square Garden’s said to have fired Miss Sanders but she was indeed fired.  Based on the very limited information provided to us, I would have to say that I would agree with the verdict in this case.  Although, there are some parts of it that I find hard to comprehend.  For instance, I find it difficult to blindly accept pain and suffering payments to people.  I agree she should be compensated in a significant way, but the $5.6 is a stretch in my opinion.  I think in a fair and just world, Miss Sanders would be awarded the money that she was lost due to being fired with no replacement job, also any sick pay or vacation she had available.
3. Human Resources could and should have begun investigating the complaint right away and moved either one or both parties to a different section so as to ensure their safety and well-being was being cared for.  Human Resources should also have asked Coach Thomas what he has to say about the allegations.  The number one thing Human Resources should have done is take note of all incidents that Miss Sanders states happens as to build a timeline of what was happening and when.  
4. In this case, I am not entirely sure that Miss Sanders could have done anything to avoid this going to a court to settle it.  Miss Sanders tried her best to follow the correct steps in her company by reaching out to Human Resources to make the problem known.  Miss Sanders wanted to do the right thing and keep her job, but after filing a complaint she was let go and thus lost pay.  To recuperate some of her lost pay, she filled for compensation in a legal setting.
5. The laws that are covered and now broke in this case would be stated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in which it helps to cover “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”
6. The courts verdict in this case is not necessarily a ground breaking decision, I think the most shocking part of this case is that it involves Madison Square Gardens and a famous coach.  In cases like this, sexual harassment cases, the verdict is pretty straightforward.  There is either sexual harassment or there is not.  In this case, I believe, the judge found it more suspicious that Madison Square Gardens fired Miss Sanders a mere month after she filed a complaint against the newly appointed Coach.  In none of the research that I could find did it say that the jury or judge found the sexual harassment charges to be verified, they found the firing of Miss Sanders to be the problem.

References for this Case:

Title VII of the Civil Right Act, C.F.R. (1964). Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov

Begley, I. (2015, May 7). Anucha browne sanders irked by isiah thomas 'attempt to rewrite history'.

     Retrieved from http://www.espn.go.com

Thompson, T. (n.d.). Anucha browns rips isiah thomas, garden for trying to 're-write history' as

     thomas takes over liberty. Retrieved May 7, 2015, from http://www.nydailynews.com

Schmidt, M. S., & Newman, M. (2007, October 2). Judy awards $11.6 million to former knicks