Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Garden On The Hill
Call it a bizarre cosmic synergy -- or publishing/marketing genius at its "finest."
Yesterday, NBA head coach Isiah Thomas and the Madison Square Garden operation were found guilty of sexual harassment. MSG and its chairman James Dolan have to pay the plaintiff $11.6 million. It's the highest-profile corporate sexual harassment case in years.
By coincidence or design, this was also the week that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas began the rollout of his autobiography "My Grandfathers' Son." That book features a major section concerning his confirmation hearings which prominently featured sexual harassment charges leveled against him -- almost exactly sixteen years ago to the month.
So, it's Thomas and Thomas.
It's Anita (Hill) and Anucha (Browne Sanders).
It's Supreme Court and basketball court (okay, I'm pushing it).
Truly eerie timing nonetheless.
By the way, one can argue whether the payout in the MSG case was appropriate, but one thing is for sure: Thomas, Madison Square Garden and Dolan deserve everything they get because of their stupidity. Given everything that was going on in the Garden and its "Animal House" culture, Dolan and Co. should have settled the suit months ago. Instead, by letting it go to trial, they've lost more than money (pending appeal); they've lost something far worse -- their reputation (though given what has happened to the Knicks over the last few years, there wasn't much of that left to begin with).
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Yesterday, NBA head coach Isiah Thomas and the Madison Square Garden operation were found guilty of sexual harassment. MSG and its chairman James Dolan have to pay the plaintiff $11.6 million. It's the highest-profile corporate sexual harassment case in years.
By coincidence or design, this was also the week that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas began the rollout of his autobiography "My Grandfathers' Son." That book features a major section concerning his confirmation hearings which prominently featured sexual harassment charges leveled against him -- almost exactly sixteen years ago to the month.
So, it's Thomas and Thomas.
It's Anita (Hill) and Anucha (Browne Sanders).
It's Supreme Court and basketball court (okay, I'm pushing it).
Truly eerie timing nonetheless.
By the way, one can argue whether the payout in the MSG case was appropriate, but one thing is for sure: Thomas, Madison Square Garden and Dolan deserve everything they get because of their stupidity. Given everything that was going on in the Garden and its "Animal House" culture, Dolan and Co. should have settled the suit months ago. Instead, by letting it go to trial, they've lost more than money (pending appeal); they've lost something far worse -- their reputation (though given what has happened to the Knicks over the last few years, there wasn't much of that left to begin with).
Labels: Clarence Thomas, Isiah Thomas, sexual harassment
