Ron Jenkins/AP
- Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks have been petitioned for documents and deposition concerning a potential lawsuit over racial discrimination, according to a report.
- A former employee of the Arena Operating Company, which runs the Dallas Mavericks' American Airlines Center, accused Cuban of failing to take action after a noose was found in a closet at the arena in 2011.
- According to the report, the woman says AOC fired her after she complained of discrimination, pay inequality, harassment, and bullying during her time with the company.
- The petition comes on the heels of reports of a toxic culture and sexual harassment within the Dallas Mavericks' organization.
Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks have been petitioned for documents and deposition in consideration of a potential lawsuit over racial discrimination, according to USA Today's Rachel Axon and Jeff Zillgitt.
According to the report, Michelle Newsome, a former employee of Arena Operations Company, claimed that Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, tried to ignore a 2011 incident in which another employee found a noose in a closet in American Airlines Center, the team's arena.
USA Today reports that according to the petition, a contractor who works with the Arena Operating Company, which is owned by the Mavericks and operates the American Airlines Center, put the noose in the closet. After the noose was found, Cuban took it down and threw it in the trash, according to Newsome.
"There was nothing done, and the most disheartening thing was the fact that Mr. Cuban is the one who took down the noose and discarded it," Newsome said, according to the report.
She added: "They tried to brush it under the carpet. There was no action taken by him."
According to USA Today, in Texas, "petitioners can seek information like documents and depositions before filing a lawsuit."
According to the report, Newsome complained throughout her time at Arena Operations Company of racial discrimination, pay inequity, harassment, and bullying from co-workers. AOC fired her in 2017 in what she said was retaliation for a 2015 complaint to human relations, according to the report.
Cuban and the Mavericks have been under fire since a Sports Illustrated report in February documented a toxic culture of sexual harassment, led by former team president and CEO Terdema Ussery. Additionally, a former writer for Mavs.com pleaded guilty to charges of family violence and was later accused of hitting a female employee he was dating in the face. The Mavericks later fired him. Cuban has said he was unaware of Ussery's behavior and the culture within the team but vowed to fix it.
A woman also accused Cuban in March of sexual assault during an incident at a Portland, Oregon, bar in 2011. Police interviewed Cuban and he denied the accusations. Prosecuters did not charge Cuban with a crime.