Five former employees sue San Diego Wave FC
Photo by Abraham Zepeda March 23, 2024
On Monday, October 7, 2024 five former Wave employees filed a civil case against San Diego Wave FC and the National Women’s Soccer League alleging disability discrimination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment and other failures in the workplace.
“(Jill) Ellis’s cultural and legal failings, and the abusive and hostile work environment in San Diego had become so large that multiple employees reported her conduct to the NWSL and asked for help from the NWSL,” the legal complaint states.
“Ellis, as San Diego Wave’s President, 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. Instead of hiring individuals with experience, she mainly hired friends of friends that lacked qualifications for the job.
The lawsuit was first reported on by Defector which includes a lengthy description of the allegations made by the five plaintiffs and includes a link to the official legal complaint itself.
Wave FC gave a statement to Defector saying, “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."
The NWSL also gave a statement to the Associated Press saying, “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.”
The ongoing legal proceeding refers to a defamation case against former Wave employee, Brittany Alvarado, who posted a statement on social media alleging discrimination by Wave leadership and called for Wave president Jill Ellis to be removed. Following the statement the Wave called the claims false.
On July 29, Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against Alvarado for her statements. The complaint said Alvarado was a disgruntled employee with claims that were “outrageous and completely false.”
The Wave will play their next match on Sunday, October 13, against the Houston Dash.
