Basketball club owner punished for racism and misogyny

Majority owner of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA) (since 2004) and the Phoenix Mercury Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Robert Sarver was fined $10 million for racism and misogyny. This is the highest penalty in the NBA. The money will be sent to organizations that deal with racial and gender issues in the workplace.

In addition, he was suspended for a year from participation in the affairs of the club. Sarver must also undergo a training course on respect and proper attitude towards staff.

Sarver is also not allowed to be near NBA or WNBA facilities, including offices and training facilities. He is also not permitted to participate in any NBA or WNBA activities or activities, nor to represent the Suns or Mercury in any public or private manner.

The NBA launched an investigation into Sarver and his Suns franchise in November 2021. The case was based on an article by ESPN journalist Baxter Holmes detailing Sarver’s allegations of racism and misogyny over the past 17 years. The content of the article was based on interviews with over 70 current and former employees of the Suns franchise.

The New York-based law firm Wachtell Lipton interviewed more than 320 people and reviewed more than 80,000 case files in an investigation commissioned by the NBA. In the end, all the allegations were proven.

The investigation also involved specialists from the international accounting firm Deloitte, headquartered in London, and the Kirkland & Ellis law firm from Chicago.

In interviews with Wachtell Lipton lawyers in person, over the phone and online, Suns employees confirmed a number of the allegations published in the November ESPN article.

The results of the NBA investigation into Sarver were released on September 13, 2022.

The league’s official statement notes that Sarver uttered the offensive N-word (denoting offensive expressions and words without quoting them) at least 5 times when referring to other people. He also allowed himself comments with sexual overtones, talking about the appearance of women. There were also “cases of unfair behavior towards female employees,” the NBA said in a statement, including inappropriate comments about employees’ appearance.

In addition, Sarver was accused of physical cruelty towards men.

“The statements and behavior described in the results of the independent investigation are disturbing and disappointing. We believe the result is correct, given all the facts, circumstances, and context that have emerged from a comprehensive investigation of this seventeen-year period. It reflects our commitment to upholding the proper rules of conduct in the NBA.

I hope the NBA community will take this opportunity to reflect on what this great game means to people around the world and the values ​​of equality, respect and inclusion that it seeks to represent. Regardless of position, power or intent, we must all acknowledge the corrosive and harmful effects of racially insensitive and degrading language and behaviour. On behalf of the entire NBA, I apologize to everyone affected by the misconduct outlined in the investigators’ report,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver commented on the results of the investigation.

According to ESPN, citing informed sources, Robert Sarver does not consider the punishment deserved, although he fully cooperated with the NBA as part of the investigation. In his opinion, the punishment is “excessively cruel”.

The NBA investigation into Sarver was the third such trial against team owners since Adam Silver became NBA commissioner in 2014. Moreover, all three investigations were conducted by specialists from the New York law firm Wachtell Lipton.