Donnie Nelson, the former general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, filed a lawsuit against the team on Thursday, accusing owner Mark Cuban of firing him last summer for reporting that Cuban's chief of staff sexually harassed and sexually abused his nephew.
Cuban offered Nelson $52 million to withdraw his wrongful termination claim and sign a confidentiality statement related to the alleged harassment and abuse of his nephew, according to the lawsuit.
Nelson filed a lawsuit in Dallas County court, saying that he was attacked and harassed by his nephew in a hotel room during the 2020 All-Star game. The nephew, a man in his 20s who is not identified in the lawsuit, was invited to his hotel room by Lutin.
Cuban denied the allegations in an email.
The only person that did not live up to the standards of the Dallas Mavericks was Mr. Nelson. He was fired because of it. He was aware of the investigation. He wouldn't fully participate. I will say it again, everything he said is a lie.
What this man is doing to someone like me is absolutely despicable.
I defer to the Mavs to comment on the matter, as it is a complete lie, and I have a lot of information to show that never happened.
Nelson didn't know about the incident or the settlement that his nephew quietly reached with the team, until five months later, after he and Cuban had begun discussions to extend his contract for 10 years.
According to the lawsuit, Nelson confronted Cuban and said that his alleged activities were putting the Mavericks employees, players and the entire organization at risk.
The lawsuit claims that Cuban sent Nelson a text delaying another discussion about a contract extension. It is related to some of the discussions we have had.
The lawsuit claims that Cuban responded to Nelson's warning that other Mavericks employees were at risk of being sexually harassed by Lutin.
Cuban will be held to account for his lip service and false public persona, as well as for sexual harassment and discrimination against Mavericks employees, according to the complaint.
Cuban fired Nelson on June 13th. The media reported that Nelson was fired due to internal tensions with Voulgaris, the former professional gambler hired to be the Mavericks director of quantitative research and development.
The lawsuit alleges a direct link between Nelson's complaint and Cuban's withdrawal of the contract offer.
Nelson worked for the Mavericks for 24 seasons, serving as an assistant general manager and assistant coach before being promoted to president of basketball operations. After his father left Cuban as Mavericks coach and general manager in 1997, he remained Cuban's top basketball executive for years.
Nelson filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
There were no warnings or job performance issues with Nelson between the time he reported sexual harassment and sexual predatory proclivities and when Mark Cuban revoked the 10-year offer.
Nelson claims that Cuban offered him $52 million if he would keep quiet about the alleged sexual assault of his nephew. The Mavericks deny Nelson's claims and admit no wrongdoing but bar him from talking about them.
If the statements in Nelson's EEOC charge were false and the Mavericks really fired Nelson for poor job performance, why would Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks, or anyone offer Nelson $52 million dollars to settle his legal claims?
Nelson said in a statement that he filed the lawsuit on behalf of his family and all the Mavericks employees who have experienced harassment, discrimination, or retaliation in the workplace.
Nelson said in his statement that it was important to speak up in the lawsuit.
Nelson's lawyer said in a statement that Nelson had "courage to file this lawsuit" and hoped anyone who had been sexually harassed by a Mavericks employee would speak out. I trust that people with knowledge of the facts will step forward.
Cuban may not have disclosed Nelson's EEOC charge to the NBA according to the lawsuit.
Nelson asked Lutin if he would visit with his nephew about job possibilities in the sports and entertainment industry after the alleged sexual assault. Don Nelson hosted a lunch for Nelson's nephew. The lawsuit has a photo of the lunch guests.
The lawsuit says that after lunch, Nelson's nephew was invited to meet with Lutin in his hotel room to discuss job possibilities.
The lawsuit states that Lutin asked Nelson's nephew to sit next to him on the bed and then sexually harassed and sexually assault the young man.
Cuban could not afford to be exposed for sexual harassment, according to Nelson's EEOC complaint.
The Mavericks quietly and confidentially resolved the sexual harassment and sexual assault of Nelson, according to the EEOC complaint.
The only reason Cuban ever cared about the discrimination and sexist work environment of the Mavericks was when it was exposed and publicized by Sports Illustrated, according to the EEOC complaint.
The Mavericks organization was described as a corporate culture rife with misogynistic and predatory sexual behavior by a Sports Illustrated story that spanned decades, including allegations against former CEO and president Terdema Ussery, who left the team in 2015.
More than 1.6 million documents, emails and text messages were examined during an NBA investigation of 215 current and former Mavericks employees.
There was improper workplace conduct towards 15 female employees by Ussery, including inappropriate comments, touching and forcible kissing. Chris Hyde, a former ticket sales employee, made inappropriate comments to women of a sexual nature, as well as viewing and sharing pornographic images and videos.
The team's executive leadership allowed an improper workplace environment to exist but also fostered the belief that those participating in it.
The findings of the independent investigation are disturbing and heartbreaking and no employee in the NBA, or any workplace for that matter, should be subject to the type of working environment described in the report.
Cuban agreed to give $10 million to women's organizations but did not face any other punishment. He said he followed the requirements given to the team by the NBA.
The NBA sent us a long list of requirements as a result of the investigation, Cuban said. We did it without exception.
Cuban apologized to those who were victims of assault.
Cuban said it was staring him in the face and he missed it. I should have been more focused on the business.
It was never in my dreams that I thought this was happening under me. I never saw the pain that people went through, the tears that people shared with me, it just hurt. The way I felt was nothing compared to how they felt. I have to learn from my mistake and try to fix it.
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