Jury Resumes Deliberations In Knicks Sex Harassment Trial

Monday, October 1st 2007, 2:45 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ A jury entered its second full day of deliberations Monday in the $10 million sexual harassment suit brought by a top New York Knicks executive against coach Isiah Thomas.

The five-woman, three-man panel resumed deliberating at the trial in a federal court in Manhattan, where in notes last week it requested transcripts of testimony from Thomas and three other witnesses. The jurors asked to look at e-mails sent by the plaintiff, Anucha Browne Sanders, to the president of Madison Square Garden, also a defendant.

The requested testimony included the accounts of two men who participated in the internal MSG investigation of claims Browne Sanders made against Thomas before she was fired in January 2006 from her job as vice president of marketing.

There were no additional jury notes so far on Monday.

Browne Sanders testified that Thomas subjected her to a hostile work environment by lacing conversations with profanities and treating her harshly, then reversed tactics and smothered her with inappropriate sexual advances.

Thomas testified that Browne Sanders made his job more difficult and got in his way by trying to undermine his authority. He said he always treated her with respect and never directed any profanities at her.

Anne Vladeck, a lawyer for Browne Sanders, has asked the jury to conclude she was sexually discriminated against and that damages are owed.

Defense lawyers say Browne Sanders ruined her career with the Knicks when she failed to adequately perform at several budget meetings. When she left the team, she was making $260,000 a year.

Browne Sanders, a 44-year-old former Northwestern University basketball star, seeks reinstatement to her job.