Five former San Diego Wave employees have sued the National Women’s Soccer League and the Wave over claims of harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
Allegations first surfaced in July when Brittany Alvarado, a former video and creative manager with the team, accused the Wave and president Jill Ellis on social media of fostering a toxic workplace.
Per CBS 8 in San Diego and Defector, which obtained a copy of the lawsuit, four former employees have joined Alvarado in taking legal action against the team. All of the plaintiffs are women. The lawsuit was filed in San Diego Superior Court.
Per the reports, the lawsuit makes 15 claims against the team, including sexual harassment, racial discrimination, failure by executives to investigate reports of discrimination and harassment, retaliation, disability discrimination and wrongful termination.
“What employees often found when arriving at [San Diego Wave] was more of a nightmare,” the lawsuit reads, per CBS 8. “Instead, employees found a culture that at best required walking on eggshells and at worst reduced many to tears.”
The lawsuit does not name Ellis as a defendant. Ellis is mentioned several times in the lawsuit, per Defector, including an allegation that “directors routinely left Ellis’s office in tears.”
Ellis “not only set the tone for an abusive and toxic workplace culture, but failed to install any qualified safeguards or checks on her own conduct,” the lawsuit reads, per Defector.
Ellis was named president of the Wave upon its founding in 2021. She was previously the USWNT coach from 2014-19. Defector reached out to Ellis’ lawyers for comments and had not heard back at the time of its publication on Wednesday.
A Wave spokesperson released the following statement to Defector when the team was asked for comment:
“This lawsuit concerns allegations initially raised on July 3, 2024. As this matter is an ongoing legal proceeding, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Per Defector, the lawsuit claims that the NWSL was made aware of alleged problems within the franchise dating back to 2022 and conducted two separate investigations. Per the lawsuit, those investigations “were biased and discounted by the league, leading to a failure to address systemic issues within the organization.”
The league previously addressed its investigations in a July statement after Alvarado initially made her claims on social media and released the following statement to Defector in response to the lawsuit:
“The safety, health, and well-being of everyone associated with our league is our highest priority. 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.”
Alvarado initially made her claims on July 3 that the “organization often perpetuated discrimination against women and demonstrated a complete disregard for their long-term mental health.” She also called for Ellis to be removed from her post.
“The treatment we endured under club President Jill Ellis has been nothing short of life-altering and devastating to our mental health,” Alvarado wrote on social media.
For those who have endured abuse.
For those who are afraid to speak up.
I see you and I will fight for you.This is for you.
The time for accountability in the @nwsl is now. pic.twitter.com/ljdC1XUHCQ
— Brittany Alvarado (@bavacado2) July 3, 2024
The Wave issued a statement in response that Alvarado’s post “contained inaccurate and defamatory statements about the club” including a “fabricated email.” It described the claims made by Alvarado against the team and Ellis as “categorically false.”
Ellis issued a personal statement to the Associated Press the following day.
“What we do is all about fostering a culture of respect, inclusivity, and excellence,” Ellis’ statement reads. “The false accusations in (Wednesday’s) post are not only personally damaging but also take away from the incredible work and progress we’ve achieved together as a team.”
Ellis has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Alvarado.
