Donnie Nelson, Mavs Former GM, Sues Team Claiming Retaliation

Former general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, Donnie Nelson, has filed a lawsuit against the team claiming he was fired last summer in retaliation for reporting alleged sexual misconduct committed by Jason Lutin.

 

Lutin is still employed with the Mavericks as team owner Mark Cuban’s chief of staff. He is described in the lawsuit as Cuban’s “right-hand man.”

 

The lawsuit alleges that Cuban offered Nelson $52 million to withdraw a wrongful termination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and sign a confidentiality agreement.

 

The alleged victim of the misconduct was Nelson’s nephew. He is identified in the lawsuit as a man in his 20s. The lawsuit states that Lutin assaulted and harassed the nephew in a hotel room on February 16, 2020, during the All-Star Weekend in Chicago. 

 

According to the lawsuit, Nelson connected his nephew with Lutin to discuss potential job opportunities with the Mavericks and in the sports and entertainment industry. The Nelson family hosted a lunch during All-Star Weekend in Chicago with Lutin as a guest. The lawsuit includes a photo of the lunch guests, including Lutin and the nephew. After lunch, Lutin invited Nelson’s nephew to his hotel room to further “discuss job possibilities,” the lawsuit claims.

 

In the hotel room, “Lutin asked Nelson’s nephew to sit next to him on the bed and then sexually harassed and sexually assaulted an unsuspecting, vulnerable LGBTQ young man seeking employment with the Mavericks,” the lawsuit states. “Lutin’s numerous policy violations and indiscretions were clearly in breach of the Mavericks supposed ‘zero-tolerance’ policy.”

 

Lutin has been Cuban’s chief of staff since 2018 and regularly travels with the Mavericks. Nelson’s lawsuit says that aside from working for the Mavericks, Lutin also works for Mark Cuban Companies and the Shark Tank TV show.

 

Nelson was unaware of the alleged February 2020 incident involving Lutin or an ensuing settlement that his nephew quietly reached with the team for an undisclosed amount until five months later. At that point, Nelson and Cuban had already begun to discuss a 10-year contract extension, the lawsuit says.

 

However, when Nelson found out, he confronted Cuban about Lutin’s alleged activities. The lawsuit states he told Cuban that Lutin was “putting the Mavericks’ employees, players, and the entire organization at risk.”

 

On September 18, 2020, the lawsuit claims Nelson received a text from Cuban saying he would delay their talks about a contract extension.

“But honestly, before I can talk, I have to find out more of what’s going on with the other matter,” the text message allegedly said. “Since it’s related to some of the discussions we have had.” 

 

The lawsuit claims Cuban’s text responded to Nelson’s statements that other Maverick’s personnel were at risk of being victims of Lutin.

 

On June 13, 2021, Cuban informed Nelson that he was firing him. At the time, media reports said Nelson’s firing was due to “internal friction” with Haralabos Voulgaris, a former professional gambler hired by the Mavericks in 2018 to be the director of quantitative research and development.

 

The lawsuit alleges there was a direct connection between “Nelson’s complaint and report of Lutin’s improper activities” to Cuban’s decision to end contract extension discussions and fire him.

 

“In this lawsuit, Cuban will be held to account for his lip service and false public persona and repeatedly ignoring and repeatedly covering up high-level executives’ sexual harassment and discrimination against Mavericks’ employees,” reads the complaint.

 

Nelson worked for the Mavericks for twenty-four seasons, serving as an assistant general manager and assistant coach before becoming president of basketball operations. He remained in that position for years, including the bitter departure of his father, Don, who was the Mavericks coach and general manager from 1997 to 2005.

 

After his firing in the summer of 2021, Nelson filed a complaint with the EEOC that December. 

 

Cuban vehemently denies Nelson’s allegations, saying the team investigated the incident and found no wrongdoing. 

 

“Everything in that filing is a lie,” Cuban wrote in an email to ESPN. “We did multiple complete investigations, and the only person that did not live up to the standards of the Dallas Mavericks was Mr. Nelson. He was fired as a result. He was well aware of the investigation. He refused to fully participate. I will say it again, everything he said is a lie.”

 

Lutin also denied the allegations in an email to ESPN.

 

“What this man [Nelson] is doing to someone like me is absolutely unspeakable,” Lutin wrote. “It’s a complete lie, and I defer to Mavs to comment, and who have already dealt with this matter and obviously have a lot of information to show none of that ever happened.”

 

Nelson’s lawsuit also alleges that Cuban did not make the NBA aware of the EEOC complaint made by Nelson. However, the league has since confirmed that it was aware of the complaint.

 

“The NBA league office was aware of the complaint that was made against Jason Lutin and that the Mavericks conducted an investigation into the complaint,” said NBA spokesman Mike Bass in a statement. “We were also made aware by the Dallas Mavericks that Donnie Nelson was going to be relieved of his duties.”

 

Nelson’s lawsuit is not the first time the Mavericks have been embroiled in a sexual misconduct controversy. 

 

An investigation by Sports Illustrated in 2018 uncovered a culture of sexual harassment and improper conduct within the franchise’s business operations over multiple decades. The report led to a seven-month independent investigation and numerous team-executive firings.

 

The NBA fined Cuban $10 million and ordered the franchise to take several steps to improve the reporting of sexual misconduct to the league in any future instances. The Mavericks also hired a new CEO, Cynt Marshall, who instituted a “zero-tolerance policy” for inappropriate workplace behavior.

 

The Mavericks also fired the director of player personnel Tony Ronzone in April 2021 after he was accused of sexual assault in a Sports Illustrated report from the summer of 2020.