Former San Diego Wave employees file suit against club, NWSL

Five former San Diego Wave employees are suing the club and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). The quintet alleges that they were subjected to discrimination, sexual harassment, and eventually wrongful termination. The news about the San Diego Wave suit comes shortly after the details of Cleveland wanting an NWSL expansion team.

Due to these issues, the ex-employees seek monetary compensation from the club and the league. These potential damages include lost wages and benefits and payments for emotional distress.

The new lawsuit comes just three months after a former Wave employee made similar accusations against the team. Brittany Alvarado, a former Wave video and creative manager, claimed that team president Jill Ellis helped create a discriminatory workplace.

Alvarado took to social media to call on the NWSL to fire Ellis in July. However, The former USWNT manager refuted the allegations and remains in the role. Ellis also combated the claims by filing a defamation suit against the former employee.

Plaintiff alleges she was sexually assaulted by Wave coworker

The new lawsuit against the Wave and NWSL is seemingly a continuation of Alvarado’s previous claims. The five plaintiffs allege that top Wave officials helped create an abusive work environment. These allegations include reports of sexual assault, racial discrimination, and harsh retaliation for taking time off of work to care for sick family members.

Instances of sexual harassment were also apparently not taken seriously by the club and the NWSL. One of the unnamed plaintiffs alleges that she was sexually assaulted multiple times by a coworker in 2022. “Jane Doe,” as labeled in the lawsuit, did not immediately report the problems out of fear of retaliation.

The plaintiff, however, claims that she did eventually inform a supervisor of a toxic work environment. According to the lawsuit, Wave officials placed Jane Doe on leave the following day and then terminated her contract three days later. Following the firing, Jane Doe claims to have asked the club about ways to report an assault by a coworker. Wave officials allegedly responded by emailing the former employee a workers’ compensation injury form.

NWSL once again faces toxic workplace allegations

NWSL’s involvement in the lawsuit comes from allegedly not doing enough to help the former Wave employees. The league did investigate the claims, but the plaintiffs allege that the league’s previous inquiries merely centered around whether or not Wave execs knew about the assaults. The investigations were also hindered due to specific verbiage of the claims.

“Horrifyingly, defendant NWSL told plaintiff Doe during the investigative read out that defendant Wave had not been on notice of her sexual assault because she used the word ‘assault’ instead of the phrase ‘sexual assault’ when reporting the incidents,” read the lawsuit.

“Defendant NWSL’s own policy does not use the term ‘assault.’ Rather, it uses the vague term ‘misconduct.’ There is no reason to require a sexual assault survivor to use magic language when reporting.”

An NWSL spokesperson refuted the lawsuit in a statement given to ESPN. “The safety, health, and well-being of everyone associated with our league is our highest priority,” stated the spokesperson.

“We take serious any and every report of potential misconduct, hire qualified independent investigators to review those allegations thoroughly, and act when allegations are supported by the facts uncovered. We will not comment specifically about an active legal matter.”

The latest lawsuit comes after the NWSL supposedly introduced reforms to workplace policies. A previous sexual abuse scandal in 2021 rocked the league and led to the firing of half of the division’s coaches. Two NWSL team owners were also forced to sell their clubs at the time as well.

Photo: Imago