Five former San Diego Wave employees have filed a lawsuit against the club and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), alleging multiple claims of discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and sexual harassment.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages for lost wages, benefits and emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
The suit, filed this week in San Diego Superior Court, follows allegations first raised in July by Brittany Alvarado, a former video and creative manager for the club, accusing San Diego Wave and its president, Jill Ellis — who is not named as a defendant — of creating a hostile work environment.
The Wave quickly denied these allegations, and Ellis later filed a defamation suit against Alvarado. Ellis, whose suit against Alvarado is ongoing, is not named in the latest complaint but is mentioned dozens of times throughout the 45-page complaint.
Alvarado filed the complaint alongside Kristina Perez, Victoria Diaz, Abigail Lozano and a fifth unnamed former employee, who is listed under the pseudonym Jane Doe.
When reached on Friday, a San Diego Wave spokesperson said: “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 lengthy complaint, which lists 15 separate claims, alleges that club leadership, and specifically Ellis, created an “abusive and hostile work environment” in San Diego that pushed “multiple employees” to report their concerns to the NWSL. The league, the plaintiffs allege, failed to act appropriately.
The suit outlines the experiences of the five former employees, which include allegations of feeling discriminated against for being Latina or returning to a hostile environment after asking to work remotely.
Doe, who was hired in June 2022, chose a pseudonym because of “privacy and safety concerns,” per the complaint. She alleged she was sexually assaulted by a coworker who she met within the first few weeks of her employment. She said he continued to harass and assault her for nearly a year. Fearing retaliation and loss of her job, she did not report the assaults to police or management at the time.
By October 2023, the complaint outlines how Doe disclosed to a manager that an employee was “traumatizing her and making it difficult to show up to the workplace.” She was placed on leave the following day, despite insisting she wanted to continue working for a “sense of community and support” as the Wave was on the cusp of winning the 2023 NWSL Shield that weekend. Days later, Doe was terminated.
According to the complaint, Doe asked an employee how to report an assault during her tenure with the club, and she then was sent an injury compensation form. Doe later reported her assault to the NWSL, which, the suit alleges, investigated the report but ultimately determined that, because Doe used the term “assault” instead of “sexual assault,” the Wave was not obligated to take any action.
When reached on Friday, an NWSL spokesperson said: “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.”
Per the suit, the unnamed employee who allegedly assaulted Doe was later terminated after the Wave learned he sent another employee an unsolicited photograph of his penis around July 2024. He was known as the “office creeper,” the suit states.
The complaint also identifies two NWSL investigations into the Wave, first between February and September 2023, and then again from February to May in 2024. The second investigation was previously confirmed by the NWSL in the wake of Alvarado’s social media postings in July. The Sirens, a San Diego Supporters Group, previously called for the NWSL to make their findings public.
The NWSL has undergone significant reform over the last several years, specifically as it pertains to player safety, following a pair of year-long investigations that revealed years of systemic abuse in the league, including the infamous report by former U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates. Several safeguards were put in place in hopes of ushering in a new era for the league, which has experienced record investment and growth. That includes San Diego Wave, which sold for a $120million valuation in March. That sale quietly closed this weekend, amid the new allegations, Sportico reported on Friday.
The complaint alleges the league is unable to “competently conduct ‘independent’ investigations or accurately document complaints,” threatening its ability “to protect staff and players from violations of the law.”
(Top image: Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
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