Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, will pay $10 million to women’s leadership and domestic-violence organizations under an agreement with the N.B.A. announced today to address sexual harassment and other improper conduct among employees in the team’s front office.
The payment, and other reporting, staffing and leadership changes, are a result of a monthslong investigation into accusations against several employees, including the former team president and chief executive, Terdema Ussery.
Cuban did not face accusations of misconduct, but the investigation found his supervision severely lacking, and he agreed to the payment, avoiding a fine. Still, the payment by far exceeds the amount of any fine the league has imposed on a team or owner.
In a statement, the league announced that the money from Cuban would be donated to a variety of organizations chosen by an advisory council of Mavericks executives, including Cuban, as well as several N.B.A. officials. The inquiry, conducted by independent investigators overseen by the league, also recommended that the Mavericks hire more women, including in leadership positions, and create a formal process for employees to report misconduct.
The N.B.A. ordered the Mavericks to file quarterly reports on its progress in those areas, and to begin workplace training for all staff members, including Cuban, 60, who acquired a majority stake of the Mavericks in 2000 and has long been one of the N.B.A.’s most vocal — and public — owners.
The report was based on information gathered from more than 200 interviews with current and former Mavericks employees.
In an interview with ESPN on Wednesday, Cuban apologized and said he had missed opportunities to correct the culture of his organization.
“This is not something that just is an incident and then it’s over,” Cuban said. “It stays with people. It stays with families. I’m just sorry to see it. I’m just sorry I didn’t recognize it, and I just hope that out of this we’ll be better, and we can avoid it, and we can help everybody just be smarter about the whole thing.”
The investigation arose from an article in Sports Illustrated in February that painted a picture of a workplace teeming with problems for female employees.