Kings, ex-execs settle suit Terms are kept
secret over sexual harassment allegations.

October 3, 2002
Section: METRO
Page: B1

By Denny Walsh
Bee Staff Writer

--The Sacramento Kings and two former executives have settled a former employee's sexual harassment lawsuit for undisclosed terms.

Anne Berry, who worked from October to December 1999, had charged that while an assistant to Alton Byrd, the then-vice president of corporate partnerships, she was subjected to crude, unrelenting and unwanted advances, including touching and kissing.

When she complained to John Thomas, the Kings' president, and Amelya Stevenson, then-vice president of human resources, she was fired, according to her suit, filed in December 2000.

While declining to discuss the settlement terms, Maloof Sports and Entertainment spokeswoman Sonja Brown said the Kings "denied all allegations listed in the complaint." Brown said she could not speak for the two former executives.

Berry's attorney, Daniel O'Donnell, confirmed this week that his client settled with the Sacramento Kings Limited Partnership, Byrd and Stevenson, but said both sides agreed not to divulge its terms.

Berry, 29, now lives in San Mateo County .She said in a recent interview that the lawsuit was as much an ordeal as her brief tenure as assistant to Byrd, 44.

"I was warned that they-would do everything they could to make me out a slut," Berry said. "That turned out to be an understatement. It was hell."

Stephen Holden, the Sacramento attorney who represented the Kings as well as Byrd and Stevenson, said his legal defense was professional and ethical.

Brown said Byrd and Stevenson no longer worked for the Kings but would not discuss when they left the organization or why.

Byrd lives in Elk Grove and Stevenson lives in Granite Bay. Neither could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Byrdjoined the Kings organization in October 1999, shortly before he hired Berry. He was a star point guard at Columbia University in the late 1970s and was chosen in the lOth round by the Boston Celtics in the 1979 NBA draft and later played professionally in England.

Berry said in her complaint that Byrd continually referred to her as "stunning" and "a beautiful woman," while leering at her.

Byrd became extremely angry "when he discovered she had associated with any other male, and especially when she had any interaction with either Joe Maloofor Gavin Maloof, and ... instructed (her) never to associate with either of them, " the complaint said. The Maloof brothers own the Kings.

Berry said in the complaint that Byrd questioned her repeatedly about her ex-husband and her male companions, asked her "whether she had ever had an affair with a former boss, " and directed her not to bring dates to Kings games.

He also made tasteless comments about her body and her clothing, Berry said in the complaint. Byrd told her that "she would be taken with him as he advanced to president ofa sports team," the suit said.

Thomas refused her request for a transfer to another position after she told him about her troubles with Byrd, Berry said in the complaint. When he learned of her contact with Thomas, Byrd told her not to come back, she said.

She said she was terminated, then told four days later by an attorney for the club that she was on "unpaid administrative leave" pending an inquiry into "alleged misconduct and her suitability for continuing employment."

However, Berry said in the complaint, the inquiry was a sham. At that same time, she said, the Kings partnership advised the state Employment Development Department that she was discharged on Dec. 10, 1999, but the partnership "was unwilling to provide any information to the (department) concerning its reason for terminating her employment."