NEW YORK - New York Knicks team president Isiah Thomas is accused of sexual harassment and discrimination by one of the team's former front-office employees in a federal lawsuit.
Anucha Browne Sanders claims Thomas made unwanted sexual advances toward her and refused to stop, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan. Thomas and Madison Square Garden are listed as the defendants in the lawsuit, which charges them with sex discrimination and retaliation.
Browne Sanders, who had been with the team since 2000, claims she was fired as the Knicks' senior vice president of marketing and business operations last week as a result of her complaints.
Ron Green, a lawyer for Madison Square Garden, told the New York Times that the lawsuit is "fabricated and outrageous." He said in a story posted on the newspaper's Web site early Wednesday that Browne Sanders was fired "because of an inability to fulfill professional responsibilities," and said she is seeking "a financial windfall."
Lawyers for Thomas, Peter Parcher and Sue Ellen Eisenberg, called the lawsuit an attempt to make money and accused her of demanding $6 million upon her departure, more than 20 times her salary.
