Ugly scandal follows the Detroit Pistons into the offseason

The Detroit Pistons’ offseason is just getting started but already it has taken an ugly and troubling turn.

Just a day after the Pistons announced that they had fired assistant GM Rob Murphy, more details emerged about why his employment was terminated.

In a scathing article in the Detroit Free Press (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED), it was revealed that the Detroit Pistons and Murphy were being sued by former employee DeJanai Raska for allegations of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.

Here is the worst of what she alleges happened while she was an employee of the Detroit Pistons:

"“But behind closed doors, Raska says, this celebrated Detroiter who rose to assistant general manager of the Pistons, sexually harassed her for months while she was his executive assistant. She said he groped her private parts in front of her 4-year-old daughter, grabbed her buttocks multiple times, subjected her to unwanted kissing, often told her she aroused him and said he wanted to “put a baby in her.”Murphy also tried to force her to have sex, she says, but she managed to push him off of her as he held her down on a bed.”"

If true, this behavior will put a dark cloud over the Detroit Pistons as they head into a very important offseason.

Ugly scandal follows the Detroit Pistons into the offseason

First off, I should say that my thoughts are with the victim right now. If these allegations are true, then DeJanai Raska deserves our respect and admiration for speaking out. This was a person who had a great job and was allegedly subjected to horrific workplace abuse by her employer, which should be unacceptable to anyone under any circumstances.

These aren’t just allegations of some cheeky comments, this is serious harassment and everyone who knew about it (allegedly) and did nothing should be shown the door.

I’m sure the suit will reveal details about who knew what and when, and why the Detroit Pistons took nearly seven months to officially fire someone accused of some heinous things. Did this article have anything to do with his firing? The timing is suspiciously coincidental. Murphy was suspended that whole time to be fair, and the Pistons have conducted an outside investigation using a law firm.

It now makes sense why the Pistons didn’t interview Ime Udoka as part of their coaching search, as he was accused of similar (albeit not as bad) behavior and it would have been a terrible look for the franchise.

How much did the Pistons’ brass know? When did they know it? Were there any red flags around Murphy that should have kept him from being hired in the first place? Troy Weaver has known Murphy from their days at Syracuse and there will be questions as to why this man was hired and then promoted.

These are all questions that will be swirling around the Pistons just as they are trying to hire a new head coach and add talent in the draft and free agency, adding an ugly layer to their offseason.