Report: Mark Cuban Could Be Deposed In Former Employee's Discrimination Case

A former American Airlines Center (AAC) employee is working with her lawyer to depose current Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in response to the toxic culture he allowed fester among employees within his franchise, according to a report from KDFW Fox 4.

Michelle Newsome worked at the AAC until March 2017 when she says she was fired for her race, gender and decision to make complaints about the terrible office culture where she worked. This was also done in spite of the fact that she was “a top sales person” and the “number one revenue producer.” Now, she’s currently arguing in court that, as her boss, Cuban showed disregard for concerns about racial discrimination and the “Animal House” style atmosphere at the AAC.

The latest testimony in support of this claim came from Tony Cooper, a Center Operating Company employee, who recounted the time Cuban was not exactly reassuring with a worker about finding a noose in a company closet.

“I walked into the IT closet. Hanging, was a noose,” said Tony Cooper, Center Operating Company employee.

After finding the hangman’s noose in an IT closet across from Mark Cuban’s bunker suite at American Airlines Center back in 2011, Cooper said he went to Cuban directly.

“He looked at it, rolled his eyes, walked over, took it down, walked out the door, threw it in the trash, went to his seat,” Cooper testified.

Her attorney, Rogge Dunn, also used testimony from the man who’s the reason for creating the sexual harassment scandal in the first place, Chris Hyde, to argue that Newsome was not treated fairly at her former job.

“Mr. Cuban personally gave [Hyde] institutional leads, on a silver platter, and he never gave one of them to Ms. Michelle Newsome,” Dunn argued.

A judge has already told Newsome’s attorney that he can depose Cuban, but would need to establish his case through testimonies from more lower level employees like Cooper.

No one Cuban’s legal team offered any comment or response in the report.