On the afternoon of Sept. 21, employees of the Phoenix Suns took part in an all-hands Zoom session. Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the Suns and Mercury, had just announced that he was selling the teams. Employees were eagerly anticipating what Rowley would say about the sale and how it would affect their futures, but another thought was burning in their minds.
It was a question that had been asked for a long time. It was submitted anonymous through the human resources department.
He began reading questions from his staff after 10 minutes.
Many other leaders in the organization overseeing the day-to-day have been here as well. Is there any sanctions coming for specific members of our organization?
That query was tied to a specific passage in the report from the New York-based Wachtell Lipton lawyers.
According to the report, many current and former executives and employees believed that Sarver's conduct had a trickle-down effect, that he behaved poorly towards his direct reports, and that those reports in turn felt they had license to mistreat their own reports.
A long time Suns executive recently left the team. The former executive said that he went into therapy due to the trickle down effect.
They were prepared for the questions. According to team sources, the topic of punishment for executive misconduct was included in one of many proposed questions along with suggested answers, and they had commissioned a global advisory firm to prepare a communication plan for the team.
Current employees said that the 166-word response largely ignored issues and incidents and focused on improvements in workplace culture over the last several years. The NBA found instances in which certain Suns executives yelled at and subjected their colleagues to embarrassment, humiliation, and intimidation in the workplace.
The lawyers for Wachtell noted in the report that they had elevated the conduct of Suns executives to the league for further action.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said that the sales process of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury are ongoing. The review will be an internal matter.
After reading the question, he said that they had only seen the report a week prior and that there were items in it that the organization would be looking into. He offered commitment to the efforts the organization had recently made to improve, such as an updated respect-in- the-workplace training.
Making sure that we never find ourselves in a situation like this again is what this is about.
The findings in the league-commissioned 43-page report by Wachtell Lipton were shrouded in anonymity, but current and former Suns employees quickly noticed that some instances of executive malfeasance were tied to Suns executives.
When all this stuff came out about Robert, I thought, "Finally, but when are others going to be held accountable?"
A female current employee of the findings said it was really upsetting. It wasn't easy to read. It continues to be.
According to interviews with more than two dozen current and former Suns employees, there were instances of verbal abuse of employees, the treatment of pregnant and postpartum employees, and other instances of retaliation and intimidation.
One current employee said that the executives upheld the culture despite the fact that Herschel created it.
It's important that leadership is important. I have apologized for any harm that my words caused, and I have taken full responsibility for my actions. The idea that anyone had a license to mistreat other employees is false, and not consistent with the high level of performance of the franchise and the experience of employees as reported in their anonymous feedback to the league.
Current and former employees were left to wonder if the desire to hold people accountable would apply to key Suns executives, including the team president.
"Are you going to fire yourself?" was the question asked by a former employee.
The team's interim governor was appointed two days after the NBA imposed a yearlong suspension and a $10 million fine on the team's owner. After a story was published about the league investigating, 13 minority owners signed a statement in support of the team.
A number of provisions are listed in the NBA's official punishment letter to the Suns. In the section regarding the team's interim governor, it states that the interim governor won't have the authority to do any of the following.
"Terminate or hire a new Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, or Chief Revenue Officer of either team"
CFO Jim Pitman can't be removed without the approval of the author.
The managing partner of the entity that owns the Suns organization is given limited responsibilities by the League. The makeup of the senior leadership team is one of the actions that I retain approval on.
The NBA wouldn't discuss the contents of its communication with the team.
Rowley's involvement with the Suns goes back to 2004. The purchase was made by an attorney at the law firm. According to a story in the Phoenix Business Journal, Rowley made an impression on his boss. After four seasons as the team's senior vice president and general counsel, Rowley became the team's COO in October 2011. He became the team's president.
Several former employees said that there were incidents in the early days of the Suns. He was a nice man when he first started. He was team president. According to the report, an executive barged into a female employee's office, leaned over her desk, and cursed at her when he learned she had informally complained to a colleague about her reporting structure. Several former employees said that the executive mentioned in the account is the one they worked for.
According to the former employees, this incident happened in early-2013. The woman who worked in the legal department came back to her office after complaining about the change in reporting structure. Soon after, he arrived. A former employee described him as "red-faced" and "screaming at the top of his lungs" as he yelled at a woman. Who are you going to ask about the structure? You should report to them if I tell you to.
A former employee said the woman was "iced out" by the man. A former employee said that the woman was pregnant at the time. The same woman was involved in another incident later in the year, according to former employees. A woman was fired after returning from maternity leave because she faced difficulties in getting her leave approved. The male team executives tried to fire the female employee while she was on leave, but her supervisor persuaded them to wait until she came back to work.
According to a former employee, one of the executives wanted to have the woman terminated while she was on maternity leave.
The woman was called into a meeting with her supervisor about a month after she came back to work. The former employee explained that the woman's role had been eliminated and that the executive felt uncomfortable looking at her.
A former employee said that the executive looked as if she was dead. She was the executioner sent by them and she didn't want anything in return. The woman was offered a package and asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
In 2015, another incident was not mentioned. A female Suns employee helped arrange a gathering at a restaurant for the team's executives. Current and former employees said that a restaurant representative apologized for a scheduling mistake and explained that the restaurant wasn't prepared to accommodate the event. One employee who witnessed the exchange said that the female Suns employee was told how the mistake was unacceptable. The employee said that it was not her fault and she was crying.
The woman decided to leave the organization after the incident.
According to the Wachtell findings, Rowley's conduct was not limited to women.
Several former employees said that about a half-decade into his tenure, he and his wife entered the Suns' arena for a concert and were stopped at the main entrance. I don't know who you are. One former employee said that Rowley asked security officials. Are you going to lose your job? After the incident, arena officials created a special orange Badge that would be given to key Suns executives. While other Suns executives wore the orange badges, they didn't need them because they often wore their own credentials, according to a former employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. According to a former employee, arena officials were told not to ask if he had a ticket if they saw him and not to engage him if they saw a large group.
In early 2020, a concert at the Suns' arena was attended by Rowley and his wife. One former employee said that neither of them wore the orange badges. Two former employees of the arena said that the wife of a man was stopped by an employee when she entered a restricted area.
He yelled at the employee, "Do you know who the hell I am?". The former employees said that Rowley yelled at the manager to fix the problem. The wife said, "I'm so sorry." The former employees said that the manager was demanded to be fired by Rowley soon after. The manager was told not to fire the employee after consulting with other Suns executives.
The lawyers from Wachtell were told by current and former Suns employees that other executives were involved in workplace malfeasance.
The report describes one incident as an "institutional failure." A representative of a team sponsor grabbed a female Suns employee's buttocks during a work trip in 2019. The female employee reported the touching to at least one of the two team executives. The incident was first reported to a senior team executive and then to three more senior team executives. The sponsor representative has continued in that role since then. The female employee has to work at events where the sponsor representative is present.
Senior team executives acknowledged that the Suns mishandled the situation. The Suns legal department hired legal counsel to look into the incident.
According to team sources, Kyle Pottinger, the Suns' senior vice president of ticket sales and service, was one of the executives who were aware of the situation.
The incident occurred at a bar in Mexico City where the Suns were playing the San Antonio Spurs. A current employee said that the representative of the team sponsor made unwanted sexual advances to the Suns employee. The employee was asked if she was okay by Pottinger, who was in the bar at the time. The representative of the team sponsor called the female Suns employee and said that he was going to apologize.
The incident was not brought up during the executive meeting in Phoenix. The current employee said that the team's HR department had a reputation of being retaliated against. A number of current and former employees have said that there were problems with the team's then-HR department. The female employee's manager, along with several high-ranking executives, spoke to her about the incident, but she still had to plan events for the team sponsor. The employee said that he was still on the account. He's still in the running. He's treated like a celebrity whenever he's there.
The story on the workplace culture in Phoenix is going to be published by Disney.
The NBA will launch an investigation into sexism and racism.
The wife of a man sent messages to three former Suns employees.
According to investigators, team employees will be given confidentiality.
Suns employees who signed non-disclosure agreements may not be able to participate in the investigation.
Suns employees were released from confidentiality agreements.
Suns to create a confidential hotline for employees.
The NBA inquiry will take place on March 4, 2022.
The Reverend Al Sharpton wants the NBA to end the Suns investigation.
The investigation is closer to the end than the beginning according to Commissioner Adam Silver.
The Western Alliance executive chairman will retire in April of 2022.
An employee of the Suns resigned after reporting concerns about workplace culture.
The investigation is in its final stage according to Silver at the meeting.
The NBA suspends Sarver for one year and fines him $10 million after concluding its investigation.
Silver said that he didn't have the right to take away his team.
"Our league definitely got this wrong when it came to the NBA's decision on Sarver," wrote the basketball player.
The Suns minority owner called for the resignation of the head of the team.
If Sarver comes back after a ban, PayPal will not sponsor him anymore.
Draymond Green wants NBA owners to vote on whether or not to oust the Suns'owner.
The process to sell the Suns and Mercury will begin in September of 2022.
The Suns CEO fields questions from his staff on the post-Sarver era.
The seven days leading up to Sarver's stunning exit were inside.
The Suns are likely to sell for a record price for an NBA team.
Multiple current and former employees said that the organization's response to the Mexico City incident ran in stark contrast to how it dealt with the February 2022 incident in which a male courtside seat-holder was accused of touching a female guest services staff member.
One former employee said that the incident was recorded on film. The man was suspended from entering the arena for a year after the Suns revoked his courtside seats. The members of the Suns' ticket sales team were in attendance. Pottinger said that the team had fired a client because he had harassed a guest service representative.
The Suns were considered a championship contender by that time. According to a former employee who was on the call, Pottinger said "we don't have to stand for this anymore." Pottinger mentioned the team's success and revenue as a reason they didn't need to have a relationship with the client. One of the employees asked Pottinger about the swift action the team had taken with this client and wondered why they hadn't done the same with Mexico City.
The employee said that Pottinger became very defensive.
The team issued a second statement two weeks after they first responded to the questions through Suns Legacy Partners.
The team declined to make any of the executives named in the story available for comment, but said several of the questions contained "factual inaccuracies and/or are deprived of important context needed to understand the totality of situations that are complicated and matters of some dispute."
The team said that they didn't do enough in response to the Mexico City incident. There is no excuse for the lack of an effective response to the question that differed from what was originally presented to us. The team said in its second statement that financial concerns and the organization's profitability did not play a role in their handling of the matter. We should have been more disciplined in the reporting process. Structural safeguards should have been put in place to respond to the allegations made in December.
That is very sad. Since then, we think we have made progress.
Multiple current employees said that the Suns held respect-in-the-workplace training sessions for employees in the food court of the arena. The session was led by a Phoenix-area attorney who focuses on labor and employment law. At one point early in the session, the lawyer pointed out that harassment against team employees also includes vendors and fans. The situation in Mexico City was immediately thought of by two employees. One current employee said "Why didn't we enforce this before?" It's too late." What is going on to the executives who should have pursued what happened?
The representative of the team sponsor was never going to be let go according to one Suns executive. Revenue was important to us and we were going to keep him. We can afford to cut ties with people who do things like that because we are so good.
A female employee who was about 35 weeks pregnant had a discussion with her supervisor. He told her that she and her husband needed to have a discussion about who would take care of their children because she couldn't work here.
The Suns' VP of business operations asked for a doctor's note if she needed to cut back her hours because he wouldn't make any accommodations for her pregnant wife. The employee was told that they could not do it professionally. It's chilling to me that they would say that.
Two former employees said that the employee was demoted and then left.
One former Suns employee said that it was difficult for her to be a mother. I don't know how anyone there had children, now that I have a child.
"Sarver created the culture, but [the executives] upheld it." Current Phoenix Suns employee
There was a situation five years ago. A former employee said that an employee was 10 weeks pregnant when she joined the Suns. The employee told Goldenberg about her unborn child. According to a former employee, Goldenberg told the pregnant employee that the team didn't have a maternity leave policy.
"This isn't true," said sarver. I led the expansion of maternity leave benefits for employees. I improved the maternity leave policies that I believe in.
Prior to joining the Suns, Goldenberg worked for Western Alliance Bancorporation, where she served as corporate counsel for three years.
The former employee said that the pregnant employee contacted other NBA teams to find out about their maternity leave programs. The former employee said that Goldenberg told the employee that Sarver wasn't.
The NBA team's maternity leave policies weren't presented to him.
The employee went into premature labor at 29 weeks and her baby needed to be hospitalized for two months, according to a former employee. The employee worked from the hospital after Goldenberg told her she needed to. The former employee said that the employee applied for short-term disability and asked for more time at home. "You can be a stay-at- home mom or you can work, but I need you here," Goldenberg is alleged to have said.
The employee was one of many Suns employees who were put on leave in the fall of 2020. She left the company at the end of the year.
A new mother relied on short-term disability coverage to address her desired time off after giving birth and there were no processes in place for managers to deviate from that.
The Suns had a crisis public relations firm that they used to answer questions about their handling of maternity-related issues.
There is a possibility of a question from Brunswick.
Significant gender issues within the Suns Culture were caused by the lack of a comprehensive parental leave policy. Women were discouraged from returning to work because of the lack of policy.
There are suggested answers.
"As part of our commitment to create a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment and our efforts to implement best-in-class policies, we have enhanced our paid parental leave policy."
As they welcome new additions to their family, the organization maintains a paid parental leave program.
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Suns executives have treated female employees differently because of their gender and/or pregnancies, according to the report.
As the CEO of Western Alliance Bank, I was heavily involved in the development and implementation of the maternity leave policy. I wanted the same thing for our employees. It was the responsibility of the executive team to deal with that.
The team was required to fulfill various workplace improvements as a result of the NBA's investigation, one of which was to retain an outside firm to evaluate and make recommendations with respect to both existing and newly created workplace policies and procedures.
We spent several years listening to employees, conducting employee focus groups, researching best-practices, and constructing a policy that we believe is above industry standard in what it provides to child-bearing, non-child-bearing, and We have hosted trainings for employees to make sure they understand the expectations and sensitivities around paid family leave and how to support new parents.
The new paid program was put in place in the spring of 2022.
In the past 18 years, there have been instances where our owner, our leaders and our organization did not meet the expectations of our employees, the League and our community, the team said in its second statement. That's not right. Accountability has been taken by us. Changes have been made. We will keep doing this until we get this right.
"Over 18 years, the time period examined by Wachtell Lipton in a review that encompassed more than 80,000 documents and 320 interviews, have there been regrettable moments where past or current senior leaders have let their frustration show in inappropriate ways?" Yes, it's unfortunate. Senior leaders employed by the Suns must own their actions, learn from them, and do better. It is not negotiable.
Some employees thought his words and answers were boring.
It was not mentioned on the call that in the days leading up to the release of the NBA's report, word had begun to spread throughout the organization that there was more than one lane of findings beyond Sarver.
According to a team source, the report contained executive malfeasance towards him.
After the NBA hired Wachtell to look into the Suns, the NBA had been a steadfast supporter of Sarver. One current employee said that Rowley was "in denial" about the consequences for Sarver, who he thought would get a slap on the wrist. The employee said that at one point before the report was released, he was told that the organization would soon see who was on "Team Robert".
The employee thought that the alleged allegiance was misguided. The employee said that Robert could say that he didn't know what was happening, but that wasn't true. He's been there too long and it's too small.
One current employee said that on the day of the report, executives were so focused on the language in their offices that the doors were closed. The employee said that many events in the report were historical.
Rage boiled from some employees.
A current employee says that a lot of people in leadership have been there for a long time. They're not good people, that's for sure. It comes down to that They are not interested in anyone but themselves.
A current employee said that the work was not done. There are still senior executives who have helped to foster this toxic workplace for the last 15 years with no accountability.
Some of the same people that caused the problems are still here. That's a big issue. Abusers are still working under our roof.
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