Cuban denies knowing about harassment
Former team president Ussery at center of Sports Illustrated report.
The Mavericks on Tuesday were stung by an investigative report from Sports Illustrated about inappropriate conduct in the workplace, including a culture of sexual harassment, prompting the team to issue a statement acknowledging the allegations.
There were no denials in their statement, which came about an hour before SI put its story online.
The statement read, in part: “The Dallas Mavericks have received information about behavior in our workplace that appears to have violated the organization’s standards of conduct. It has been alleged that a former officer of the organization engaged in various acts of inappropriate conduct toward women over a period of years. This individual left the employment of the Mavericks nearly three years ago and the Mavericks have only learned of the scope of these complaints in
the past days.”
The statement did not include any names, but the SI investigative story said Terdema Ussery, who was the team’s president for nearly two decades before he left in 2015, was the primary figure. As far back as 1998, the Mavericks conducted an internal investigation about Ussery after several female employees lodged complaints about inappropriate workplace behavior.
The results of that probe were not released and neither then-owner Ross Perot Jr. nor Ussery commented on the findings, other than Ussery saying: “It’s been addressed.”
The SI story stated at least six former female employees spoke to the magazine about a corrosive workplace environment in the years leading up to Ussery leaving the organization. They said there were times when they did not feel safe.
Attempts to reach Ussery were unsuccessful Tuesday night, and owner Mark Cuban declined to comment, although both men gave statements to the magazine.
SI stated Ussery issued his statement to them Tuesday that read in part: “I am deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me. During my career with the Mavericks, I have strived to conduct myself with character, integrity and empathy for others.
“During my nearly 20 year tenure with the Mavericks, I am not aware of any sexual harassment complaints about me or any findings by the organization that I engaged in inappropriate conduct. In fact, on multiple occasions I and other senior executives at the organization raised concerns — both in person and in emails — about other Mavericks employees who had engaged in highly inappropriate — and in some cases, threatening — sexual conduct. The organization refused to address these concerns, and I believe these misleading claims about me are part of an attempt to shift blame for the failure to remove employees who created an uncomfortable and hostile work environment within the Mavericks organization.”
The Mavericks’ statement went on to say the organization has notified the NBA office and hired outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation, with emphasis on specific allegations related to the former employee.
The Mavericks also have suspended an employee whose job it was to receive and investigate such complaints, pending the outcome of the investigation, the statement said. That person appears to be vice president of human resources Buddy Pittman, according to information in the SI report.
The SI story included this comment from Cuban: “I want to deal with this issue. I mean ... obviously there’s a problem in the Mavericks organization and we’ve got to fix it. That’s it. And we’re going to take every step. It’s not something we tolerate. I don’t want it. It’s not something that’s acceptable. I’m embarrassed, to be honest with you, that it happened under my ownership, and it needs to be fixed. Period. End of story.”
Cuban said he also was not aware of any improper behavior by employees.
“This is all new to me,” he said. “The only awareness I have is because I heard you guys (SI) were looking into some things ... Based off of what I’ve read here, we just fired our HR person. I don’t have any tolerance for what I’ve read. It’s wrong. It’s abhorrent.”
Shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday, the NBA released a statement regarding the situation, which confirmed the involvement of Ussery and Sneed. It read: “The Dallas Mavericks have informed us of the allegations involving former team president Terdema Ussery and Mavs. com writer Earl Sneed. This alleged conduct runs counter to the steadfast commitment of the NBA and its teams to foster safe, respectful and welcoming workplaces for all employees. Such behavior is completely unacceptable and we will closely monitor the independent investigation into this matter.”