NY- The sex-harassment scandals at Madison Square Garden continue to grow, with a third female Garden employee claiming she is the victim of co-workers who subjected her to "disparaging remarks" as well as "pinups, pornography and the use of female body parts as obscenities," The Post has learned.
In yet another bombshell federal suit slamming the behavior of MSG's male employees, ex-video technician Verity Lund claimed Garden brass knew about the crude conduct and "had long fostered an environment which was abusive to women."
Lund said MSG banished her to a trailer and cut her workload and pay by 75 percent when she complained about her colleagues' boorish behavior. She was assaulted by a male colleague, Lawson Fisher, who hit, kicked and pushed her, she charged in a separate suit in state court.
Cops arrested Fisher, who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, court documents said. The Garden fired him, court papers revealed.
It's unclear if the 58-year-old Lund, a full-time freelancer who started at MSG in 1986 and was the Garden's oldest video technician, had any contact with former Knicks former marketing executive Anucha Browne Sanders, who has accused Knicks GM Isiah Thomas of making sexual advances toward her, and says she was then being fired after she rebuffed him.
One Garden source said the two women worked in different buildings - Lund in the arena itself, Sanders in the company's executive offices next door at 2 Penn Plaza.
But there are some similarities to their allegations.
Lund says the men in her department got more work and better jobs starting about 1998, according to her federal suit - a sex- and age-discrimination action filed in Manhattan in 2004.
Lund's suit doesn't say when or for how long she was subjected to the alleged sexual harassment, but she complained about it and the purported attack by Fisher to several administrators, including Ann Jackson in the human-resources department, the suit says.
"Ms. Lund complained to Ms. Jackson about the abusive environment that encouraged the [Fisher] incident and said that historically MSG had discriminated against women," the suit says.
"In response to Ms. Lund discussing the incident with her, Ms. Jackson said 'some people would have walked away crying,' " the suit alleged.
Efforts to reach Jackson at the MSG human-resources department were not successful.
Lund settled with the Garden out of court in September.
"I'm sure you understand, I can't talk about this," Lund said yesterday, referring questions to her lawyer.
Her $2.25 million suit against Fisher - who, she claimed, attacked her "without provocation" at the Garden on June 24, 2001, causing injuries that required "extensive" medical care - was tossed out.
Lund's lawyer, Eugenie Gilmore, would not disclose the terms of the settlement with MSG "because I need to protect my client."
She added, "These are powerful people we're talking about."
In the Lund suit, MSG lawyers last February made a stunning concession, writing that "the defendant admits" to one of Lund's earlier allegations - specifically that the Garden "allowed harassment and mistreatment by co-workers."
On Friday, an MSG spokesman denied that. "We have a zero-tolerance policy for a hostile work environment and have been proud of how our employees have been treated," said the spokesman.
"MSG has a comprehensive anti-harassment policy that includes provisions for employees to raise concerns and prohibits retaliation for invoking complaints. We vigorously and immediately investigate any and all claims brought to our attention and take appropriate action."
In another revelation, made during a hearing last August in Lund's case, a lawyer for MSG made references to two additional "internal" complaints of harassment within the Garden's network-operations department, according to a court transcript.
"Neither one them are based on age or retaliation, nor are they based on gender discrimination," said the MSG lawyer, Lyle Zuckerman, at the hearing.
"They are harassment. One of them, I can't be even be sure if it is sex harassment, although it could be, depending on how you interpret it."
Zuckerman did not give further details in court but did say the alleged victim in at least one complaint was female.
The lawyer also references "external complaints" but does not give more information.
Lund's suit echoes those of Sanders and ex-Rangers cheerleader Courtney Prince, who says she was fired after she told fellow cheerleaders that an MSG staff member sexually harassed her.
In 2004, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommended that the Garden have its employees undergo sexual-harassment discrimination training and pay Prince - who called members of the management team "sexual predators" - $800,000 in damages.
The Garden rejected the deal and Prince sued in federal court.
The Garden is owned and operated by Cablevision Systems Corp., founded by Charles Dolan and run by his son James.
Its portfolio includes the WE: Women's Entertainment cable channel.
The channel is described in a statement as dedicated "to creating projects and programs that foster and celebrate the intelligence, strength, confidence, diversity and leadership of women, both in the workplace and at home."
Cablevision was dropped from Lund's suit in a Feb. 7, 2005, ruling, but MSG remained a defendant in the case.
