The Detroit Pistons have fired their assistant general manager, Rob Murphy, following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct towards a former employee. The accusations against Murphy, made by his former executive assistant, DeJanai Raska, included harassment and abuse, which she claims escalated to sexual assault. In a statement, the Pistons said that an external investigation, conducted by a national law firm, found enough evidence to justify Murphy’s termination. Murphy had been on leave since October when the allegations were first made.
Raska’s lawyer has announced that his client intends to file a lawsuit against Murphy and the Pistons over the alleged abuse and harassment. Raska accused Murphy of turning her into a “personal assistant nanny” for him and his teenage son, claiming that she was subjected to inappropriate conversations and verbal harassment. Raska also alleges that Murphy sexually assaulted her twice, with the Pistons’ human resources department failing to protect her from his behavior. In her account of the alleged incidents, Raska describes how Murphy groomed her, isolated and manipulated her, and warned her about going to human resources.
However, In a recent statement released by Murphy’s attorney”My client has maintained his silence and patience since he was put on
administrative leave by the Pistons in October 2022. He passed a polygraph test administered
by the President of Michigan Association of Polygraph Examiners on November 16, 2022, and
he fully cooperated with the Pistons’ investigation conducted by outside counsel. Subsequently,
his legal team received an email from Pistons’ General Counsel on Feb 20, 2023, that confirmed
the outcome of a month’s long investigation.”
In part, the email stated, “…the investigation concluded that the available evidence does not support a finding of harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation by Rob or the Pistons organization against Ms. Raska.”
Potter concluded, “We believe that any attempts to try this case in the court of public opinion
are detrimental for all parties involved, and we will refrain from engaging in the same tactics.
Our request is that people withhold judgement about Mr. Murphy and these allegations until which time our case is presented in an appropriate setting. Mr. Murphy exhibits a deep trust in our judicial system and is desirous of having the opportunity to publicly refute the allegations made by Ms. Raska. We will be making no further comments at this time, but we will remain eager for the judicial process to unfold.”
