In the aftermath of allegations of harassment and violence toward female employees in the Dallas Mavericks organization, the NBA is instituting a confidential hotline for team and league employees to register concerns of improper conduct, according to a memo obtained by ESPN.
Commissioner Adam Silver sent a letter to top officials of the NBA's 30 teams on Thursday, outlining what Silver described as the league's "commitment to providing employees with a safe and inclusive work environment."
The hotline will be instituted next week, the memo said.
The rest of the memo outlined existing initiatives within the NBA on issues surrounding the league's "Respect in the Workplace Policy," including the NBA's plan to "conduct a series of mandatory, small-group discussions facilitated by outside experts to ensure that we all have a full understanding of issues related to sexual harassment and expectations for how we should behave in the workplace."
A Sports Illustrated report described a Mavericks culture of misogyny and predatory sexual behavior that spanned decades in the organization, including numerous allegations against former CEO and president Terdema Ussery.
