After weeks of controversy, the verdict is in for the Isaiah Thomas harassment lawsuit. Confirming rumors, it was decided that Thomas did harass Anucha Browne Saunders, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Marketing at UB Athletics. Nonetheless Thomas was not forced to pay her for damages.
However, Madison Square Garden was found guilty of harassment, and the jury has ordered them to pay damages for the negative effects of the "hostile work environment," according to an Associated Press article published on October 2, 2007.
According to the article, Browne Saunders will receive $6 million for the working environment and an additional $2.6 for how MSG handled the situation afterwards. Browne-Saunders will also receive $3 million from New York Knicks owner and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan.
With the mixed victory, Thomas still claimed his innocence in his statements to the press.
"I'm innocent, I'm very innocent, and I did not do the things she has accused me in this courtroom of doing," Thomas told the press. "I'm extremely disappointed that the jury did not see the facts in this case. I will appeal this, and I remain confident in the man that I am and what I stand for and the family that I have."
MSG has announced that they plan on appealing the decision, but Browne Saunders is enjoying the victory for now.
"What I did here, I did for every working woman in America," Browne Saunders said. "It's for also the women who don't have the means and couldn't possibly have done what I was able to do."
