EMMETT BERG

A former employee of the Golden State Warriors today sued team owners, executives and star guard Monta Ellis for sexual harassment, charging that lurid texts from the National Basketball Association star led to her termination.

Oakland resident Erika Smith was hired to work on community relations for the Warriors in 2007 and regularly interacted with team members as part of her duties until her termination in August, according to documents filed in Alameda Superior Court.

Her firing came nine days after a local media outlet inquired if Ellis was “stalking” Smith.

In November 2010, Ellis, who is married, allegedly began the first of a total of 61 unwelcome texts of a sexual nature to Smith’s work cell phone, including a photograph of his genitals.

According to the filings, “During the period that Monta Ellis was incessantly texting Plaintiff, Monta Ellis informed Plaintiff that the texting would not be discovered since he was using a ‘secret’ cellular phone that was kept by equipment manager and for which the bills went to Monta Ellis’ grandmother.”

A January 13, 2011 incident described in court documents alleges Juanika Ellis, Ellis’s wife, discovered the secret phone and texts, and was demanding the ouster from the Warriors organization of Smith, who had previously also worked for NBA teams the Washington Wizards and the Phoenix Suns.

Action was delayed, according to the documents, to ensure Monta Ellis wouldn’t learn of his wife’s knowledge until after a “big game” against the Los Angeles Lakers.

In a statement released to the media Wednesday afternoon, Rick Welts, Golden State Warriors president and chief operating officer, said the team discovered a consensual relationship between Smith and Ellis and intervened to tell both “to stop promptly, directly and fairly.”

“The Warriors have never taken any action against for any inappropriate reason, and we deny the allegations she is making.”

Burton Boltoch, an attorney representing Smith, disputed the existence of a consensual relationship, and added that the team “does not address the allegations, the coverup and the fact that they didn’t do an investigation.”

Neither Ellis nor team officials were immediately available for comment.

– Reuters

FLINT, Mich. — Charlie Bell’s run in the National Basketball Association was ceased on Sunday.

The Golden State Warriors waived Bell — a Flint Southwestern graduate — under the league’s new amnesty provision, which can be used on an individual player once a year.

This rule allows the Warriors to clear his remaining contract from the salary cap while avoiding any penalties from the luxury tax.

Golden State reportedly wanted to free up space to sign DeAndre Jordan, who inked a 4-year, $43 million offer sheet with the organization after cutting Bell.

Bell failed a sobriety test earlier this month at a court appearance in Flint.

He was already in court for a druken driving arrest which happened in October and was planning to plead guilty, according to The Flint Journal’s reports.

Bell won a national championship with the Michigan State Spartans in 2000.

He completed seven seasons in the NBA with the Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks.

For his career, he averages 8.5 points, 2.3 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in 376 total games.

Last season in Golden State, Bell played in 19 games while posting 1.7 points per game.

Chamath Palihapitiya, an original
member of Facebook Inc.’s management team who left the company
in June, has joined the ownership group of the National
Basketball Association’s Golden State Warriors.

Financial terms were not disclosed by the Oakland,
California-based team, which announced Palihapitiya’s investment
yesterday in a news release.

In four years at Facebook, the 34-year-old Palihapitiya
worked in various roles, including vice president of user
growth, mobile and international. He finished 101st in the main
event of this year’s World Series of Poker, earning $54,851,
more than five times his original stake.

The Warriors were sold in July 2010 for a league-record
$450 million by Christopher Cohan to a group led by Joe Lacob,
managing partner at the San Francisco Bay Area-based venture
capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Peter Guber,
chairman of Mandalay Entertainment Group.

Among the other bidders for the club was Larry Ellison, the
billionaire chief executive of Oracle Corp. (ORCL)

The Warriors have made the postseason once since 1994.
Golden State was 12th among the Western Conference’s 15 teams
last season with a 36-46 record.

To contact the reporter responsible for this story:
Scott Soshnick in New York at
ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net