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A former Dallas Mavericks employee who said she was sexually harassed by the team’s former president came forward publicly Tuesday and said the team still doesn’t “get it.”
Melissa Weishaupt, who worked in marketing and game operations for the Mavs from 2010-14, wrote a first-person essay for Sports Illustrated in which she railed against Cuban, the team’s workplace culture and the response to the bombshell SI expose on the club published in February.
“I am using my name because I am convinced that Cuban still doesn’t recognize the culture he’s helped create or the plight of the women who still work for him. From where I sit, Mark’s response was to rush in like some white knight in a T-shirt and jeans and yell, ‘Don’t worry, ladies of the Mavs, I will help you with paid counseling and a hotline you can call!’,” Weishaupt wrote.
She said it’s hard to believe Cuban’s claims he had no idea what was going on because of his deep involvement with everything in the franchise on the business side.
“Sorry. It doesn’t work that way. You own 100% of the team, Mark. The buck stops with you,” Weishaupt wrote.
She said as part of her job that all marketing, promotional and broadcasting decisions went through Cuban and nothing could happen without his approval.
Weishaupt said she decided to publicly reveal her identity after former president Terdema Ussery told SI he was “deeply disappointed that anonymous sources have made such outright false and inflammatory accusations against me.”
SI’s February expose alleged Ussery sexually harassed employees in the workplace for years. Allegations ranged from being propositioned by Ussery for sex, inappropriate touching and lewd comments.
The Mavericks hired outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations. The team could face sanctions from the NBA.