Ex-Phoenix Suns employee alleges discrimination, harassment, retaliation and seeks $60M in damages, per report

A former employee of the Phoenix Suns, Andrea Trischan, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona attorney general’s office’s civil rights division, alleging that she experienced racial discrimination and harassment when she worked for the team between Sep. 2022 and July 2023, per ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. She is claiming wrongful termination, seeking $60 million in damages and, according to her lawyers, intends to file a formal lawsuit against the organization.

The Suns, via ESPN, called the claims baseless, egregious and misleading.

Trischan was the program manager of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Suns. They hired her less than a week after the NBA suspended Robert Sarver, then the owner of the team, for a year based on the findings of an investigation into his inappropriate workplace conduct, following ESPN’s investigation on the subject (published Nov. 2021). In a 25-page statement, Trischan said that, while her job was to address the problems that had been identified in the investigation, when she expressed concerns to Kim Corbitt — her manager and Phoenix’s head of HR —  about the team putting numerous executives who (in a second ESPN story published in Dec. 2022) had been accused of misconduct on a new diversity council, she was punished for it.

Corbitt told Trischan that those executives had been placed on the council in order to “reshape their image,” according to Trischan’s statement. In the statement, Trischan also said she was told to stop investigating the claims of misconduct against those executives, and that, during her time with the team, she faced retaliation “for attempting to address the Suns’ discriminatory behavior and for filing complaints.”

In an email to ESPN, Trischan’s attorney, Sheree Wright, wrote that Trischan “endured overt racist comments and a hostile work environment that went unaddressed despite being reported to HR and executive leadership.”

The team disputed Trischan’s characterization of her tenure, via ESPN:

“A former employee who last worked for the organization in 2023 was terminated after less than 10 months due to repeated failure to perform her job duties,” Suns and Mercury senior vice president of communications Stacey Mitch told ESPN. “This individual filed a baseless charge with a state agency and is now trying to use ESPN reporting from 2022, specific to previous ownership, to make egregious claims in order to support her ridiculous demand for $60 million from the Suns organization.

“To be clear, this individual is making false claims in an attempt to gain tens of millions of dollars. We are confident the courts will find no merit to these claims and quickly resolve this matter. The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury are creating a world-class organization for every employee. We will not let opportunists succeed in their attempts to manipulate the media and use years old reporting to seek financial gain.”

…

“Ms. Trischan’s claims regarding the diversity council are misleading,” a Suns spokesperson said. “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.”

…

“The Suns continue to participate in the [Arizona Civil Rights Division] review in good faith,” a Suns spokesperson said. “We are confident that after the ACRD completes its review of Ms. Trischan’s charge, the ACRD will confirm that Ms. Trischan’s claims are factually and legally baseless.”

According to Trischan’s statement, the Suns placed her on a performance improvement plan in late May 2023. She was fired in July 2023. Aside from former team president and CEO Jason Rowley, who resigned in Feb. 2023 (right as Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the team from Sarver was officially finalized), all of the executives accused of misconduct in ESPN’s 2022 story continue to work for the Suns.