Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Anucha 1, Knicks 0
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 3, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 3, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Anucha Browne Sanders gets the cover treatment from the Post and Daily News after a jury believed that Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas and that Madison Square Garden (the owner of the Knicks) were liable for sexual harassment. amNY, though, chose to put Isiah Thomas on its cover, with an inset of Knicks owner James Dolan, next to the headline "Rotten to the Court" - oh snap!
Browne Sanders was also awarded $11.6 million in damages from the jury: $6 million from MSG for the hostile work environment, $2.6 million from MSG for retaliation and $3 million from James Dolan personally for retaliation. Browne Sanders said, "There are many women out there who I have spoken for that don't have the wherewithal to fight. You want to be able to go to work in a comfortable environment where you are respected. What I did here, I did for every working woman in America."
She also thanked the jury for "seeing through to the truth." When one of the jurors, Sally Anne Foster, was asked if the jury was sending a message to MSG with the settlement, she said, "Obviously, we did." Foster had also said, "She shouldn't have been fired," and that Browne Sanders was "believable." From the Post:
The verdict discredited Dolan's testimony that he fired Sanders for being inept and for tampering with an investigation into her sexual-harassment claims. He had boasted in a taped deposition, "All decisions at the Garden I make on my own."
Asked what the jury thought of Dolan, Foster said, "He should have consulted a lawyer. He should have taken more time to let the whole process work."
She added that Garden executives "need sensitivity training."
"I wouldn't want one of my children working there because of all the language you have to listen to," Foster said. "We don't use those words in our house."
In the Daily News, there are some more quotes from Foster, who noted that Browne Sanders' documentation of the harassment helped her case and felt that former intern Kathleen Decker, who admitted she had sex with Stephon Marbury in a truck, is "awfully young and made some unintelligent choices."
U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Lynch will decide how much Browne Sanders is owed in front and back pay; Newsday explains, "She is asking for about $600,000 in back pay and $9.7 million in damage to her reputation, lost earnings and pension, as well as other compensation. She may also be able to recover attorney fees and costs."
The Daily News' Mike Lupica thinks Isiah Thomas should have been fired after the verdict, "But this is James Dolan's Garden, where Dolan writes an $11.6 million check to Anucha Browne Sanders as if paying off another bad power forward, then issues a statement that this is all the jury's fault. Maybe he should get his old man to buy him a new jury." The NY Times' Jim Dwyer writes it's a "frightening thought to Knick fans everywhere" if the Knicks continue their normal operations, per a statement after the verdict.
Thomas headed to South Carolina for Knicks training camp after the verdict was read. It's unlikely the NBA will reprimand him; the NBA said it doesn't comment on civil cases. And for more reading:
- The Daily News compiled some choice Dolan quotes.
- The Post speaks to lawyers who think MSG was stupid to not take the sexual harassment claims seriously.
- Fans believe the Knicks and MSG are terrible (secret boon for the Nets' fan prospects?)
Tagged
america
anucha Browne sanders
basketball
Browne Sanders
children
court
daily news
District
District Court
environment
fans
isiah thomas
james dolan
knicks
madison square
madison square garden
mike lupica
msg
nba
nets
news
News: NYC
ny times
sex
south carolina
sports
stephon marbury
the daily news
The NY
the ny times
the post
What I
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
New Yorkers are paying $300 million for natural gas they don't even use
A new study found that nearly 2% of the city's natural gas is leaking into the air and causing climate pollution.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center
Because the vote against it was unanimous, here are your early links: Jacket weather, swishing your Guinness, spooky decorations in North Jersey and more.
By
James Ramsay
News
Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center
Because the vote against it was unanimous, here are your early links: Jacket weather, swishing your Guinness, spooky decorations in North Jersey and more.
By
James Ramsay
Hit-and-run driver arrested trying to flee to Uzbekistan after deadly crash, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say
By
Caroline Lewis
A NYC judge brought his gun into court for an ‘experiment’. Now he’s censured.
By
Samantha Max
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .