Ex-employee sues Suns, cites multiple allegations

A former Phoenix Suns employee sued the team Wednesday, citing allegations of harassment, racial discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by ESPN.

In the lawsuit, Andrea Trischan, who was the Suns’ program manager of diversity, equity and inclusion from September 2022 until July 2023, also alleges financial misconduct, sexual misconduct and racial discrimination by current and former team executives.

Lawyers for Trischan filed the civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix. Trischan is asking for unspecified damages to be determined at trial. In a statement, the Suns said Trischan is seeking $60 million.

“Andrea’s case is built on substantial evidence that establishes a clear and undeniable pattern of discrimination within the Suns organization,” Trischan’s attorney, Sheree Wright, wrote in a statement to ESPN. “Key pieces of evidence include her quarterly and annual performance reviews, which consistently highlight her exceptional work, and email correspondence documenting instances of bias and exclusion. This evidence paints a stark picture of a workplace culture rife with discriminatory practices, where concerns raised by employees were systematically ignored or dismissed.”

After being terminated by the Suns in July 2023, Trischan filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona Attorney General’s office’s civil rights division. Her complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s office was dismissed on Nov. 5 because the “information obtained is not sufficient to establish violations,” according to a copy of the dismissal obtained by ESPN. The dismissal noted that it wasn’t concluding whether the Suns were or were not in compliance.

“Ms. Trischan’s case was dismissed by the Arizona Attorney General’s office earlier this week,” Stacey Mitch, senior vice president of communications for the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, wrote in a statement to ESPN. “Her claims have been without merit from day one, and now this lawsuit, in which she is seeking $60M, is based on the same claims that were just dismissed. We are fully confident the courts will agree her story is completely fabricated.”

Trischan was hired by the Suns on Sept. 19, 2022, six days after the NBA announced that then-owner Robert Sarver was suspended one year and fined $10 million following an NBA investigation into his conduct and the team’s workplace culture during his 18-year tenure as the team’s majority owner.

Trischan’s role was aimed at helping address issues that current and former Suns employees had described to ESPN as existing under Sarver, who announced his intent to sell the team soon after the NBA released the findings of its investigation.

One such finding, and the requisite requirement from the league, was that the Suns needed to address their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Specifically, the NBA mandated the Suns retain an outside firm to “evaluate and make recommendations with respect to workplace training programs, policies and procedures, and hiring and compensation practices — with a focus on fostering a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace.”

In November 2022, Trischan was nearly two months into her role when she said she learned that the team was creating a diversity council without consulting her and that it would feature several Suns executives. A month later, ESPN published an investigation outlining allegations of misconduct by several Suns executives whom employees said played key roles in perpetuating a troubling workplace culture under Sarver. Some of those executives included then-team president and CEO Jason Rowley; executive vice president and chief revenue officer Dan Costello; Kyle Pottinger, who was then the Suns’ senior vice president of ticket sales and service; and Melissa Goldenberg, who was then the team’s general counsel.

When Trischan read ESPN’s story, she said in the lawsuit, she realized that some of the executives accused of misconduct had also been named to the team’s diversity council. She also said that employees expressed “specific concerns” about some of the executives named in the story, citing allegations of racial discrimination, financial misconduct and sexual misconduct.

Trischan said she voiced concerns to Kim Corbitt, her direct manager and the Suns’ head of human resources, about the executives who were named in the ESPN story, noting that they were mistrusted by staff while questioning their presence on the diversity council. Trischan said she also sought to investigate some claims of misconduct against those executives but that Corbitt “directly discouraged” her from doing so.

According to Trischan, Corbitt said that the executives were on the diversity council as a means to “reshape their image.”

“Ms. Trischan’s claims regarding the diversity council are misleading,” a Suns spokesperson previously told ESPN. “The purpose of the diversity council, which is comprised of the entire executive team and other leaders in the organization, is to listen to the diversity data and information on DE&I initiatives to continue to further the organization’s DE&I commitment.

“… Ms. Trischan’s job did not include any sort of investigatory or employee relations responsibilities.”

Both before and after her conversation with Corbitt, Trischan described facing and witnessing instances of harassment, discrimination and retaliation from colleagues and superiors, including Corbitt. Trischan claimed that complaints by her and others reported to Corbitt were met with resistance.

Trischan was placed on a performance improvement plan in late May 2023 and was terminated in July 2023.

Trischan and the Suns, who are working with an outside law firm, previously discussed mediation to settle the dispute, but no agreement was reached.

Her deadline to file a lawsuit, her attorneys previously said, was Wednesday.

Since ESPN first reported on Sept. 10 about Trischan’s ongoing dispute with the Suns, team sources said that Pottinger and Goldenberg departed the organization. Pottinger first joined the Suns in May 2009 and Goldenberg in 2014. The circumstances about their departures remain unclear.

Rowley, who joined the Suns in 2007, resigned in February 2023, just before billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia was introduced as the team’s new majority owner.

Ishbia bought the Suns and the Mercury from Sarver at a $4 billion valuation.