COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn has been told by a judge to answer lawyers’ questions about allegations he made unwanted sexual advances toward women.

Circuit Judge Ernest Kinard on Thursday ordered Shinn to appear at a Rock Hill deposition as part of a lawsuit by a woman who said she was forced to perform oral sex at his Shinn’s Tega Cay mansion last year.

The woman’s lawyer, Dick Harpootlian, called Shinn a ``sexual predator″ and said he should be forced to answer broad questions about his relationships with other women.

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Two former female Hornets employees have said in court documents that Shinn made lewd comments and touched or grabbed them.

Shinn lawyer Tom Lydon called the deposition an ``irrelevant″ fishing expedition.

The 29-year-old woman who sued said Shinn forced her to perform oral sex on him in September 1997. Prosecutors refused to press charges, saying they didn’t have enough evidence.

She then filed sued Shinn, restating her allegations and claiming Shinn tried to rape her. Shinn countersued in Charlotte, N.C., claiming he was slandered and targeted in a $5 million extortion plot.

Harpootlian also said Shinn had former Hornets player Scott Burrell traded in February 1997 because of a woman. A sworn statement says Shinn and an unidentified player were both seeing a Hornets cheerleader and the player was traded because of that relationship.

Shinn attorney Bill Diehl and Hornets vice president Bob Bass denied that.

Harpootlian said the cheerleader is one of two women who claimed they were victims of Shinn’s unwanted sexual advances.

Kinard has ordered Shinn to furnish the names of all Charlotte cheerleaders for the two years prior to the alleged Tega Cay encounter.