Donnie Nelson, a veteran general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, filed a lawsuit against the organization on Thursday. He claims
that owner Mark Cuban fired him last summer in punishment for Nelson’s reporting of sexual harassment and abuse of his nephew
during a 2020 job interview.
The lawsuit also claims that Cuban offered $52 million to Nelson, who was let go in June, in exchange for him signing a secrecy
agreement about his nephew’s alleged abuse and harassment and withdrawing a claim of wrongful termination.
In his case, which was submitted to a Dallas County court, Nelson claims that Jason Lutin—who is currently employed by the team
and is referred to in the lawsuit as Cuban’s “right-hand man”—assailed and harassed his nephew in a hotel room during the 2020 All-
Star Weekend in Chicago. Lutin had invited the nephew, a guy in his 20s who is not named in the case, to his hotel room, according to
the lawsuit.
In an email to ESPN, Cuban refuted the claims made by Nelson.
Cuban stated, “Everything in that filing is a lie.” “We conducted several thorough examinations, and Mr. Nelson was the only one who
fell short of the Dallas Mavericks’ expectations. It resulted in his termination. He knew full well what was being looked into.
In an email to ESPN, Lutin refuted the claims as well, writing, “What this man [Nelson] is doing to someone like me is absolutely
unspeakable.”
“It’s a complete lie and I defer to Mavs to comment and who have already dealt with this matter,” Lutin stated. “And obviously have a
lot of information to show none of that ever happened.”
Spokesman for the NBA Mike Bass released the following statement: “The Mavericks’ investigation into the complaint against Jason
Lutin was known to the NBA league office. The Dallas Mavericks also informed us that Donnie Nelson will be removed from his
position.”
The lawsuit claims that Nelson was not informed of the alleged incident on February 16, 2020, involving Lutin, or the subsequent
settlement for an undisclosed sum that his nephew discreetly reached with the team, until five months later, after he and Cuban had
started talking about extending his contract for ten years.
Lutin’s purported actions were therefore “putting the Mavericks’ employees, players, and the entire organization at risk,” Nelson
allegedly told Cuban when he confronted him.
According to the lawsuit, on September 18, 2020, Cuban texted Nelson to postpone further talks about extending their contract. He
said, “But honestly, before I can talk, I have to find out more of what’s going on with the other matter.” As it has a connection to some
of the
Cuban’s text, according to the lawsuit, was a reaction to Nelson’s alert that other Mavericks staff members would face sexual
harassment from Lutin, whom the lawsuit refers to as “a sexual predator.”
“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,” the complaint states.
Cuban informed Nelson that he was firing him on June 13. When Nelson was sacked, according to media sources at the time, there was
“internal friction” with Haralabos Voulgaris, a former professional gambler who the Mavericks hired in 2018 to serve as their director
of quantitative research and development.
“Nelson’s complaint and report of Lutin’s improper activities” is alleged to have been the cause of Cuban’s September 2020
withdrawal of a 10-year, $66 million contract offer to Nelson.
After spending 24 seasons with the Mavericks, Nelson was elevated to the position of president of basketball operations after holding \
the positions of assistant general manager and assistant coach. Following the painful departure of his father, Don, who led the
Mavericks as general manager and coach from 1997 to 2005, he continued to be Cuban’s top basketball executive for many years.
Nelson sent the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a complaint in December.
Nelson did not make any errors, issue any warnings, or experience any problems with his work performance from the time he reported
Lutin’s sexual harassment and predatory behavior and the time that Mark
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