Phoenix Suns minority owner Jahm Najafi calls for Robert Sarver's resignation

Phoenix Suns vice chairman and minority owner Jahm Najafi called for majority owner Robert Sarver's resignation in an open letter to team employees released on Thursday night, saying there should be «zero tolerance'' for lewd, misogynistic and racist conduct in any workplace.»

Sarver was banned from the NBA for one year and fined $10 million after the NBA on Tuesday released its findings from a 10-month independent investigation into allegations of workplace abuse during Sarver's tenure as managing partner of the Suns that has spanned nearly two decades.

Najafi, who has been critical of Sarver since the allegations were first reported by ESPN in November, is one of three vice chairmen for the Suns, with several other minority investors also part of the ownership group.

«Similar conduct by any CEO, executive director, president, teacher, coach, or any other position of leadership would warrant immediate termination,» Najafi wrote in the letter. «The fact that Robert Sarver „owns“ the team does not give him a license to treat others differently than any other leader. The fact that anyone would find him fit to lead because of this „ownership“ position is forgetting that NBA teams belong to the communities they serve.

»Team investors are merely temporary stewards. If we, as sports leaders, are not held to the same standards then how can we expect a functional society with integrity and respect on any level? We owe it to you: employees, players, partners, and your families to provide the same positive workplace environment we would require of any other business."

Among the litany of allegations corroborated by the investigation conducted by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Sarver was found to have, on at least