Ex-GM Donnie Nelson has sued his former club, the Mavericks, alleging he was fired by owner Mark Cuban in June of 2021 as retaliation for reporting sexual misconduct, according to Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.
Nelson’s lawsuit alleges he was fired for reporting that his nephew was sexually harassed and assaulted by Cuban’s chief of staff, Jason Lutin, during a job interview on February 16, 2020, Natta writes.
Cuban offered Nelson $52MM to withdraw a wrongful termination claim and sign a confidentiality agreement regarding the alleged harassment and assault, the lawsuit alleges. The unsigned agreement is attached to the lawsuit, with the Mavs admitting no wrongdoing but barring Nelson from discussing or disclosing the allegations.
Cuban denied the allegations in an email to ESPN.
“Everything in that filing is a lie,” Cuban wrote. “We did multiple complete investigations and the only person that did not live up to the standards of the Dallas Mavericks was Mr. Nelson. He was fired as a result. He was well aware of the investigation. He refused to fully participate. I will say it again, everything he said is a lie.”
Lutin also denied the allegations in an email to Natta.
“What this man [Nelson] is doing to someone like me is absolutely unspeakable. It’s a complete lie and I defer to Mavs to comment and who have already dealt with this matter,” Lutin said. “And obviously have a lot of information to show none of that ever happened.”
Nelson didn’t find out about the incident with his nephew, who isn’t named, until five months after it occurred, by which point the nephew had reached a settlement agreement with the team for an undisclosed amount, the lawsuit states.
When he learned about the alleged incident, Nelson was reportedly in negotiations on a 10-year contract extension with Cuban, whom he then confronted regarding Lutin’s alleged actions. A couple months later, Cuban withdrew a 10-year, $66MM extension offer, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement to ESPN’s Natta, Nelson said he filed the lawsuit “on behalf of my family and all the Mavericks employees who have experienced harassment, discrimination, or retaliation in the workplace.”
“Filing a lawsuit is not something to be taken lightly — however, it was extremely important that I speak up,” Nelson said. “The facts that come out in this lawsuit will hopefully protect the incredible people I’ve had the honor and privilege of working with during my 24 years with the Mavericks.”
Nelson, who was originally hired by the Mavs in 1998, was promoted to the role of GM/president in 2005 and had been one of the NBA’s longest-tenured lead basketball operations executives.
In 2018, the Sports Illustrated released a report which painted “a picture of a corporate culture rife with misogyny and predatory sexual behavior” within the Mavericks organization, focusing particularly on former Mavs president and CEO Terdema Ussery and former Mavs.com beat writer Earl K. Sneed.
The resulting investigation substantiated the report, and the Mavs were found to have “serious workplace misconduct by former and current employees,” along with “improper or ineffective management.” Cuban, who was not implicated in the 2018 report, donated $10MM to organizations that “promote women in leadership roles and combat domestic violence.”
There are more details on Nelson’s lawsuit in Natta’s report for ESPN, which can be found here.
I smell dramaaaa
Really hate that people can buy off their crimes by using settlement dollars.
Yes it’s maybe okay for the one specific victim who gets pod at least
But then the abuser or the organization gets to move on and continue the abuses.
Boy Scouts, Catholic Church and virtually every junior sports league (particularly hockey) have all been incredibly unable to stem abuses.
And when they run out of money to pay off victims (Boy Scouts) they just declare bankruptcy and those people are free to start a new abusive organization later.
That $52M settlement sure sounds like a payoff. I’ll be curious to see if anymore more employees or former employees come out (assuming they didn’t take money and sign NDA’s).
People don’t risk their entire career’s on something their nephew said… and if he really have proof of a 52 million dollar NDA offer… that’s a smoking gun to me.
I do not think NDAs prevent people from revealing criminal conduct- but the lawsuits can bankrupt whistleblowers…this sure sounds bad, I don’t think Nelson would toss away $66 mil lightly, and the firing made little sense at the time, lots of speculation regarding Luka, who claimed he had nothing to do with it.
It’s is hard to hear bc it happens more then we know , I wonder how old the nephew was and if he has more proof that will come out later on.
Read the ESPN article and definitely looks bad for the Mavericks and specifically Cuban. Offering a guy a $52m “settlement” to not discuss an alleged sexual assault, and then firing him after not signing for “unrelated” issues seems … bad.
Cuban caught no repercussions for the first Mavericks culture issues—IDK, seems like there’s a lot smoke around the guy.
Most guys like Cuban hire people that are good at their jobs even if they might not be fine, upstanding citizens. It all starts with him.
How good can they be?
Nico Harrison, a new FO employee, made the Dinwiddie trade that is fueling the Mav’s current surge.
“Guys like Cuban” meaning what?
Rich guys that have the money to put really smart people in charge? What do you think I meant?
If Cuban fired Nelson because he confronted him over his own nephew being sexually harassed and then offered hush money he should have the team taken from him.
I don’t know the ins & outs of DAL organization… but I would say Nelson Jr comes across as a lowlife that is bitter for his firing, he just wasn’t good enough & didn’t meet the standards expected of him… then goes & throws a frivolous lawsuit… as I said unless he can prove it just seems to me a very bitter guy towards an organization that made his life!
Yeah he was no good, that is why they kept him around for over two decades…
And they won a title and have been in the hunt for most of those years……
I get why folks choose to sign NDA in these types of cases. It sucks that criminals can use them to bury the truth and continue committing atrocious acts, but it is life-changing money. Hard to blame them too much.
On the other hand, I think more folks should consider the alternative of:
—Running to the mainstream media and social media with their story, thereby causing it gain significant traction
—Using said traction to get some high-powered lawyer on board who would be willing to take the case thanks to the publicity involved
—Hopefully winning the case and getting compensated for it. Also, the added publicity could be good for other methods of compensation (interviews, books, etc).
Such a scenario would still present risks compared to the security of a NDA, of course. And I understand a lot of folks wouldn’t be comfortable going public with their ordeals. But one of the benefits of living in this age of technology is that those without a voice can gain a voice, and thus power, if they can get their stories to trend. And nothing trends like the rich/powerful/famous having committed crimes.
All I’m saying is I don’t think it’s quite as simple as life-changing money vs doing the right thing. More like security vs less security + more uncertainty + more exposure.
A lot of those high profile business people have their ways to not let it get that far with lawyers. And a lot of lawyers that see that it’ll be a career maker usually aren’t that dependable when BBB it’s all said and done. The rich protect their own and lawyers are like a fraternity,
All very true.
If this is true, Cuban should lose the team.
Karma for Cuban! Love it!
There is apparently no allegation of a crime here. So, there’s that.
There’s also the fact that settlements of civil litigation (with or without a NDA) can’t absolve a perpetrator from the consequences of criminal behavior, nor prohibit a victim from (or even permit him to avoid) cooperating and/or testifying in the matter. It’s almost unheard of (for many reasons) for a civil settlement to be reached while criminal charges pending.
Cuban can do better than lines of “everything that guy said is BS” and “besides, he sucks”. He must have an attorney who can write out an appropriate response for him.
Uh, assault is a crime, buddy.
Not in this case, apparently, or the victim would have gone to the police and/or prosecutors, not directly into civil court. Pretty basic, and hard to believe anyone could grow up in the US and not be capable of understanding such a basic distinction. Then again, today’s citizenry has the ability to amaze on a lot of fronts.
The victim got paid off. Donnie wasn’t ok with it and Cuban tried to pay HIM off. Apparently, it’s not about the money for Donnie but without the hushed up nephew, it’ll be hard to prove anything.
The incident occurred in a hotel room, making a criminal conviction unlikely. Anyway criminality is not the bar here concerning Cuban & the organization. Lutin was described as a “predator” and that his actions were covered up instead of halted.ESPN:
“… the lawsuit says that Nelson asked Lutin if he would visit with his nephew about job possibilities… “The lawsuit includes a photo of the lunch guests, including Lutin and the nephew.
After lunch, Lutin invited Nelson’s nephew to meet him in Lutin’s hotel room “to discuss job possibilities,” the lawsuit says.
“Lutin asked Nelson’s nephew to sit next to him on the bed and then sexually harassed and sexually assaulted an unsuspecting, vulnerable LGBTQ young man …”
Personnally I think Cuban is sliding, personally, and is a ticking bomb. He infracts happily, breaks rules. But then, cover-ups usually work.
Imo, from reading the article.
He was fired 100% for reporting or taking a side. Now, Cuban may have fired him because he didn’t believe it and thought Nelson was hurting the organization with lies. Or he knew it was true.
What execs ask people into their hotel rooms? This stuff has been drilled into upper management for decades. Especially the last 15 years. You only do it. Never. Ever. For what purpose?
As far as their claims that Nelson didn’t cooperate with the Mavs investigation. I have been on the side of hostile employer “investigations” a dozen times. The question is always “What could you have done differently”. Even though you had no part. So the blame can get documented everywhere. victim blame and keep people quiet. I am biased based on my life experience.
But I have worked at a top 10 fortune company and this is the way they operated 100%.
It’s time to kick Cuban out of NBA!!
Nelson has been around NBA for a long long time, and he wouldnt file a frivolous lawsuit.
All thse billionaire owners think they can do whatever they want with people’s lives.