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Dolan's taped deposition raises behavior questions

Jim Baumbach

September 19, 2007

When James Dolan's video deposition appeared in court yesterday afternoon on the oversized television, you couldn't help but take note of how large his head appeared on screen. Based on the arrogant way he conducted himself on tape, that's how he likes it.

In the span of an 11-minute taped segment in which he was asked pointed questions by lawyers, Dolan ran the full gamut of emotions. He laughed out loud, even cracked a bad joke. He sighed at a question. He even slouched so far down in his chair at one point that it made you feel as if he was sitting courtside in the fourth quarter of a game the Knicks trailed by 40.

There's no telling whether Anucha Browne Sanders' attorneys will successfully convince the jury of seven that Isiah Thomas is guilty of sexual harassment. But after listening to Dolan's deposition, and that of senior vice president of human resources Rusty McCormack, it's become clear he wrongfully fired Browne Sanders.

Of course Dolan took credit for the firing, seemingly even puffing his chest as he did so. "All decisions at the Garden, I make on my own," Dolan said. Words that surely make Knicks fans shake their heads and think about what's become of their storied franchise.

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Dolan said he fired her almost immediately after McCormack told him over the telephone that Brown Sanders was impeding his investigation into her sexual harassment complaint. (Never mind that McCormack all but admitted in his videotaped testimony that the investigation basically was a crock.) What infuriated Dolan was McCormack's claim that she was coercing "her direct reports into collaborating her complaints."

But Dolan didn't think to bring this accusation to Browne Sanders, as any sane boss would do. And he refused to ask the Cablevision lawyers if firing her was appropriate after she had formally complained of sexual harassment by Dolan's top employees. No, this decision was bigger than his lawyers. "I specifically did not consult with counsel," Dolan said. "I felt that the overall health of the Garden was in jeopardy here and that would overrule any opinion of counsel."

Imagine that, Dolan worrying about the "overall health of the Garden." Look what's become of the place now and what's on display each day in room 23A of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan federal courthouse in Manhattan.

Imagine the embarrassment Cablevision as a company feels today after McCormack, its senior vice president of human resources, admitted in his deposition that he is not trained in equal opportunity employee laws. This guy even suggested that calling another employee a derogatory name is OK, as long as it's not to their face.

As for Cablevision's supposed investigation into Browne Sanders' sexual harassment complaints against Thomas, McCormack said it was not concluded until after she was fired, making it convenient for him to come to the conclusion she should be "separated" from the organization. But when pressed on the videotape, he said he drew up a memo concluding the investigation only because the Garden's lawyers feared a lawsuit from her. They needed this paper "on record," he said.

And it only gets worse. In the memo, McCormack wrote that Thomas should undergo sensitivity training and Garden president Steve Mills should meet with human resources officials about the experience. But neither person followed through with the suggestions. "When the lawsuit came about, that's about as much sensitivity training [Thomas] could want," McCormack said. Besides, McCormack later admitted he didn't write the memo, even though it's in his name. Marc Schoenfeld, senior vice president of legal affairs, drafted it.

When Dolan was asked if he thought that it was appropriate for an employee to refer to a colleague as a "bitch," he leaned back in his chair. "It's not appropriate," he said. "It's also not appropriate to murder anyone. I don't know if that's happened here."

A mixture of laughter and gasps came from the small crowd in the back of the room. If we only knew what Dolan's Garden attorneys were thinking . . .