Info

FCPA Compliance Report

Tom Fox has practiced law in Houston for 30 years and now brings you the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report. Learn the latest in anti-corruption and anti-bribery compliance and international transaction issues, as well as business solutions to compliance problems.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
FCPA Compliance Report
2019
May


2018
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
March
February


2015
December


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: Page 1
Mar 6, 2018

In this episode, Matt Kelly and I explore the recent revelations of systemic sexual harassment and abuse present in the front office of the Dallas Mavericks. The allegations were not lodged against owner Mark Cuban but against his former team CEO, Terdema Ussery, who was CEO of the Mavericks from 1997 to 2015. The story was broken by Sports Illustrated in a stinging expose last month. Cuban claims the first he heard about these allegations were when the SI writers, Jon Wertheim and Jessica Luther contact him for comment on their piece. 

Matt writing in his blog post Dallas Mavericks Scramble on Compliance  noted the story had the three hallmarks we have seen from recent #MeToo scandals involving top CEOs. First, these organizations have unchecked senior executives — charismatic, larger-than-life figures who dazzle their peers and superiors, which leaves them in excellent position to abuse subordinates. Second, the organizations have flawed reporting mechanisms that don’t send allegations of misconduct to people empowered to do something about them. Third, the organizations allow a culture of protection to fester. 

All of this led to years of harassment and physical abuse by members of the Mavericks front office. Some women in the article said it was safer in the player’s locker room, where the players were gentlemen. They contrasted it with the Animal House atmosphere of the team’s front office. Owner Mark Cuban has certainly said all of the right things since the story broke. He has even posted a job opening for the team’s first Chief Compliance Officer. You can apply here

The sordid story is yet one more in a stinging line of unethical and illegal acts that a company’s management allowed to fester for year. It also points how compliance is assuming a greater importance to help a company prevent, detect and remediate nefarious conduct.

0 Comments
Adding comments is not available at this time.