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Report: Mark Cuban Donating $10M to Charity After NBA Found Workplace Misconduct

Adam Wells

The NBA has reportedly completed its investigation into the Dallas Mavericks following allegations of a hostile work environment, sexual harassment and domestic violence. 

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will donate $10 million to organizations that promote women in leadership roles and combat domestic violence after the NBA found "serious workplace misconduct by former and current employees" and "improper or ineffective management."

Wojnarowski added the Mavs are also required to implement NBA-mandated sanctions, including changing reporting, staffing and policy to improve workplace culture. 

Per The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Mavericks are required to provide the NBA with quarterly reports, report any significant employee misconduct to the league, enhance training and implement programs to combat workplace misconduct.

Appearing on ESPN's The Jump, Cuban apologized to the women and their families for what happened and explaining the organization "did a lot of things wrong" that he failed to change:

Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim and Jessica Luther wrote an investigative piece in February in which six different female former Mavericks or American Airlines Center employees accused former team president Terdema Ussery of inappropriate conduct.

In addition, male and female former Mavs employees called the team's human resources office part of the problem:

"(Former Mavs head of human resources Buddy) Pittman has been known to take strong positions on social and political issues such as abortion and immigration, sending charged email messages to select staffers and friends that leave little doubt where he stands. (SI obtained a 2013 email that Pittman forwarded to friends and colleagues titled, 'The best response to gay marriage I've seen'; the email bristled at the widespread acceptance of NBA player Jason Collins’s announcement that he is gay.) Pittman’s overt social and religious leanings have a chilling effect on the willingness to approach him with sensitive workplace issues, say some former Mavericks employees, both male and female."

During Cuban's appearance on The Jump, Rachel Nichols asked him about not firing team beat writer Earl Sneed keeping his employment after being arrested in the Mavericks' facilities in 2011 stemming from a domestic dispute with his girlfriend:

Per Sports Illustrated's report, Sneed pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault charges and in 2014 began dating a Mavericks employee who reported him to Pittman for a domestic dispute:

"Her face swollen, she went to work but within days reported the incident to her immediate supervisor and to Pittman. The woman recalls Pittman being professional and supportive; she also recalls Pittman informing her of Sneed’s prior arrest. In retrospect, she wonders how Sneed could have stayed employed. 'He shouldn’t have a job there,' she says."

Sneed was fired by the Mavericks on the same day the Sports Illustrated story published. 

In a statement released with the NBA's report, commissioner Adam Silver said (via ESPN.com) there was no specific wrongdoing on Cuban's part, but "he is ultimately responsible for the culture and conduct of his employees."

Cynthia Marshall was hired as Dallas' interim CEO on Feb. 26. Per the Mavs' press release at the time of her hiring, she is also the founder of consulting firm Marshalling Resources, whose primary focus is on leadership, diversity and inclusion, culture transformation and overall optimization of people resources.

Ussery left the Mavericks in 2015, and Pittman was fired in February after Sports Illustrated's report came out. 

   

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