Isiah Thomas on the Sexual Harassment Hot Seat

A high-profile sexual harassment case began yesterday involving the former NBA star and current coach Isiah Thomas:

The former New York Knicks executive who filed a $10 million sexual harassment lawsuit against coach Isiah Thomas testified Tuesday that the NBA legend repeatedly called her "bitch" and "ho" in private conversations before abruptly switching gears and professing his love.

Anucha Browne Sanders told a jury of five women and three men that Thomas, the Knicks' head coach and president of basketball operations, would blow up any time she tried to recruit him or his players for marketing campaigns . . . .

Browne Sanders' testimony came on the first day of the closely watched civil trial in federal court in Manhattan. It followed opening statements in which another attorney for Thomas sought to portray the plaintiff as a liar who made up charges to deflect attention from her incompetence . . . .

The plaintiff contends that despite being showered with rave performance reviews and raises for most of her tenure, the Knicks fired her from her "dream job" in January 2006 in retaliation for daring to hire a lawyer and pursue sexual harassment allegations against Thomas.

It is always interesting to hear public reaction to these types of cases.  Has the public become more or less accepting of these types of alleged actions in the workplace?  My thought is less, but, of course, these cases turn on the personalities and the facts as determined by the jury.

PS