California
5 ex-employees sue San Diego Wave and the National Women’s Soccer League
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Five former employees of the San Diego Wave have filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court accusing the women’s soccer club of discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination, among other allegations.
The lawsuit stems partly from claims made earlier this year on social media by former Wave video and creative manager Brittany Alvarado. She was joined by four other plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit names the Wave and the National Women’s Soccer League as defendants. It says both the team and the league failed to act on complaints about a toxic workplace culture.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages for lost wages and benefits and for emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
One of the plaintiffs, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, says in the court documents that she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker. She did not report the allegation to the club or police at the time, according to the lawsuit.
Shortly after reporting to a manager that another employee was “traumatizing” her and that she was struggling with mental health issues, she was placed on leave and later terminated, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit claims the NWSL investigated complaints against the Wave twice but ultimately nothing was done.
“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 NWSL said in a statement Wednesday.
The Wave also sent The Associated Press a statement on Wednesday regarding the employees’ complaint. “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 team said.
The lawsuit does not name Wave President Jill Ellis as a defendant. Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against Alvarado in July that called the accusations in the social media post both false and “personally damaging.”
Alvarado alleged in a lengthy post on X that the workplace was discriminatory and said it took a toll on her mental health.
Ellis, who coached the U.S. national team to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, responded at the time by saying that mental health concerns are a priority for the club and it has support measures, including an employee assistance program. She added that when allegations of mistreatment have occurred, the team has investigated.
Arkansas
Former deputy sentenced for violating man’s civil rights during violent arrest
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas law enforcement officer who pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a man he repeatedly punched during a violent arrest caught on video in 2022 will be serving time in a federal prisons medical facility.
U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey on Wednesday sentenced former Crawford County sheriff’s Deputy Levi White to 63 months, with credit for time served, and ordered that he be confined at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, according to court documents.
Hickey recommended that White receive medical health counseling and treatment while confined at the facility in Springfield, Missouri, and be put on two years of supervised release.
White in April pleaded guilty to a felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law during the Aug. 21, 2022, arrest of Randal Worcester outside a convenience store.
White and another former deputy, Zackary King, were charged by federal prosecutors last year for the arrest. A bystander used a cellphone to record the arrest in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma. Video of the arrest was shared widely online.
King, who also pleaded guilty, was scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.
An attorney for White did not respond to a message late Wednesday afternoon.
A third officer caught in the video, Mulberry Police Officer Thell Riddle, was not charged in the federal case. King and White were fired by the Crawford County sheriff. The video depicted King and White striking Worcester as Riddle held him down. White also slammed Worcester’s head onto the pavement.
Police have said Worcester was being questioned for threatening a clerk at a convenience store in the nearby small town of Alma when he tackled one of the deputies and punched him in the head before the arrest. Worcester is set to go to trial in February on charges related to the arrest, including resisting arrest and second-degree battery.
Worcester filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the three officers, the city of Mulberry and Crawford County over the arrest. But that case has been put on hold while the criminal cases related to the arrest are ongoing.
New York
Journalist says he’s reached settlement with NFL on suit over discrimination
A former NFL Media journalist announced Wednesday that he’s reached a settlement with the NFL to resolve a lawsuit in which he accused the league of refusing to address long-standing institutional discrimination while also alleging his contract was not renewed because he repeatedly voiced concerns regarding equity and racial injustice.
Jim Trotter did not go into detail in announcing the settlement on his X account, except to say the NFL has agreed to make a donation into his newly launched scholarship foundation for journalism students attending historically Black colleges and universities.
“I am proud to have the opportunity to help and support HBCU students to achieve their goals and dreams, just as scholarships afforded me those opportunities when I was a student at Howard University,” Trotter wrote.
David Gottlieb, one of Trotter’s attorneys, release a statement saying, his client “should be applauded for using this opportunity to create a charity with the mission of helping Black sports journalism students and creating more diversity in his field, consistent with the goals of his lawsuit from the start.”
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In filing his discrimination and retaliation lawsuit 13 months ago in federal court in New York City, Trotter, who is Black, cited Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula as making racially insensitive comments. Trotter said the concerns he raised with league executives, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, regarding those comments and the lack of diversity among NFL Media employees fell on deaf ears.
Trotter now works for The Athletic after previously being a reporter for the NFL Network, before his contract was not renewed in March 2023.
The NFL responded to the lawsuit then by saying: “We take his concerns seriously, but strongly dispute his specific allegations, particularly those made against his dedicated colleagues at NFL Media.”
The NFL said Trotter’s contract was not renewed as a result of business decisions made to address “a challenging economy and a changing media environment.”
Pegula called the allegations against him is false, and Jones issued a statement characterizing Trotter’s version of the conversation as not accurate.
Trotter said he was subjected to discrimination on the basis of his race. He alleged the NFL fostered and condoned a hostile work environment by terminating him.
He was seeking to have a court-ordered monitor put in place to investigate and review the NFL’s policies and implement necessary changes on its hiring, retention and advancement of Black employees throughout its organization.
The lawsuit said NFL Media did not have a single Black person in a managerial position or on its news desk.
Minnesota
State high court weighs whether a woman going topless violates an indecent exposure law
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota woman’s misdemeanor conviction for going topless in public should be overturned because female breasts are not defined as “private parts” by the state’s indecent exposure statute, her attorney told the state Supreme Court.
Eloisa Plancarte was convicted after police said they found her topless at a convenience store parking lot in Rochester in 2021. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Plancarte’s attorney, Adam Lozeau, told the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday that the conviction should be reversed because she “didn’t expose a prohibited part of her body,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Plancarte previously challenged the conviction before the state’s Court of Appeals, arguing that she had the same right to expose her chest in public as men. A three-judge panel rejected her appeal in a 2-1 decision.
Previous court rulings have labeled public toplessness by women but not men as indecent exposure, said Jim Haase, senior assistant county attorney for Olmsted County. The state law protects women who are breastfeeding from indecent exposure charges, which Haase said is evidence that female breasts are considered private parts under Minnesota law.
It’s unclear when the Minnesota Supreme Court will issue a ruling.
Ohio
Man gets 3-year probation for threatening New Mexico DA
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — An Ohio man avoided prison time and was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for sending a threatening voicemail with racist overtones to a New Mexico district attorney last year, authorities said.
Prosecutors said 47-year-old Donald Walter Fowler, of Lido, Ohio, didn’t like the way authorities and Gerald Byers were handling the investigation of a fatal shooting involving a Las Cruces police officer last October.
They said Fowler targeted Byers, who is Black.
Fowler was accused of leaving an expletive-filled voicemail on Oct. 26 for Byers, which included “there should be a noose in your future.”
Authorities said records traced the call to Fowler.
He was arrested in November, indicted the following month and reached a plea agreement in June.
Fowler was facing up to three years in prison at his sentencing for a felony charge of communicating interstate threats.
Jessica Martin, a lawyer for Fowler, didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment on the case.
Byers said Fowler’s threat disrupted police agency operations, required enhanced security measures at the district attorney’s office and necessitated additional security measures for his home and family.
The U.S. is gripped by intense debates regarding justice, race and democracy. Black prosecutors have emerged as central figures litigating those issues, highlighting the achievements and limits of Black communal efforts to reform the justice system.
5 ex-employees sue San Diego Wave and the National Women’s Soccer League
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Five former employees of the San Diego Wave have filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court accusing the women’s soccer club of discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination, among other allegations.
The lawsuit stems partly from claims made earlier this year on social media by former Wave video and creative manager Brittany Alvarado. She was joined by four other plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit names the Wave and the National Women’s Soccer League as defendants. It says both the team and the league failed to act on complaints about a toxic workplace culture.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages for lost wages and benefits and for emotional distress, as well as punitive damages.
One of the plaintiffs, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, says in the court documents that she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker. She did not report the allegation to the club or police at the time, according to the lawsuit.
Shortly after reporting to a manager that another employee was “traumatizing” her and that she was struggling with mental health issues, she was placed on leave and later terminated, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit claims the NWSL investigated complaints against the Wave twice but ultimately nothing was done.
“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 NWSL said in a statement Wednesday.
The Wave also sent The Associated Press a statement on Wednesday regarding the employees’ complaint. “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 team said.
The lawsuit does not name Wave President Jill Ellis as a defendant. Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against Alvarado in July that called the accusations in the social media post both false and “personally damaging.”
Alvarado alleged in a lengthy post on X that the workplace was discriminatory and said it took a toll on her mental health.
Ellis, who coached the U.S. national team to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, responded at the time by saying that mental health concerns are a priority for the club and it has support measures, including an employee assistance program. She added that when allegations of mistreatment have occurred, the team has investigated.
Arkansas
Former deputy sentenced for violating man’s civil rights during violent arrest
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas law enforcement officer who pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a man he repeatedly punched during a violent arrest caught on video in 2022 will be serving time in a federal prisons medical facility.
U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey on Wednesday sentenced former Crawford County sheriff’s Deputy Levi White to 63 months, with credit for time served, and ordered that he be confined at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, according to court documents.
Hickey recommended that White receive medical health counseling and treatment while confined at the facility in Springfield, Missouri, and be put on two years of supervised release.
White in April pleaded guilty to a felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law during the Aug. 21, 2022, arrest of Randal Worcester outside a convenience store.
White and another former deputy, Zackary King, were charged by federal prosecutors last year for the arrest. A bystander used a cellphone to record the arrest in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma. Video of the arrest was shared widely online.
King, who also pleaded guilty, was scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.
An attorney for White did not respond to a message late Wednesday afternoon.
A third officer caught in the video, Mulberry Police Officer Thell Riddle, was not charged in the federal case. King and White were fired by the Crawford County sheriff. The video depicted King and White striking Worcester as Riddle held him down. White also slammed Worcester’s head onto the pavement.
Police have said Worcester was being questioned for threatening a clerk at a convenience store in the nearby small town of Alma when he tackled one of the deputies and punched him in the head before the arrest. Worcester is set to go to trial in February on charges related to the arrest, including resisting arrest and second-degree battery.
Worcester filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the three officers, the city of Mulberry and Crawford County over the arrest. But that case has been put on hold while the criminal cases related to the arrest are ongoing.
New York
Journalist says he’s reached settlement with NFL on suit over discrimination
A former NFL Media journalist announced Wednesday that he’s reached a settlement with the NFL to resolve a lawsuit in which he accused the league of refusing to address long-standing institutional discrimination while also alleging his contract was not renewed because he repeatedly voiced concerns regarding equity and racial injustice.
Jim Trotter did not go into detail in announcing the settlement on his X account, except to say the NFL has agreed to make a donation into his newly launched scholarship foundation for journalism students attending historically Black colleges and universities.
“I am proud to have the opportunity to help and support HBCU students to achieve their goals and dreams, just as scholarships afforded me those opportunities when I was a student at Howard University,” Trotter wrote.
David Gottlieb, one of Trotter’s attorneys, release a statement saying, his client “should be applauded for using this opportunity to create a charity with the mission of helping Black sports journalism students and creating more diversity in his field, consistent with the goals of his lawsuit from the start.”
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In filing his discrimination and retaliation lawsuit 13 months ago in federal court in New York City, Trotter, who is Black, cited Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula as making racially insensitive comments. Trotter said the concerns he raised with league executives, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, regarding those comments and the lack of diversity among NFL Media employees fell on deaf ears.
Trotter now works for The Athletic after previously being a reporter for the NFL Network, before his contract was not renewed in March 2023.
The NFL responded to the lawsuit then by saying: “We take his concerns seriously, but strongly dispute his specific allegations, particularly those made against his dedicated colleagues at NFL Media.”
The NFL said Trotter’s contract was not renewed as a result of business decisions made to address “a challenging economy and a changing media environment.”
Pegula called the allegations against him is false, and Jones issued a statement characterizing Trotter’s version of the conversation as not accurate.
Trotter said he was subjected to discrimination on the basis of his race. He alleged the NFL fostered and condoned a hostile work environment by terminating him.
He was seeking to have a court-ordered monitor put in place to investigate and review the NFL’s policies and implement necessary changes on its hiring, retention and advancement of Black employees throughout its organization.
The lawsuit said NFL Media did not have a single Black person in a managerial position or on its news desk.
Minnesota
State high court weighs whether a woman going topless violates an indecent exposure law
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota woman’s misdemeanor conviction for going topless in public should be overturned because female breasts are not defined as “private parts” by the state’s indecent exposure statute, her attorney told the state Supreme Court.
Eloisa Plancarte was convicted after police said they found her topless at a convenience store parking lot in Rochester in 2021. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Plancarte’s attorney, Adam Lozeau, told the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday that the conviction should be reversed because she “didn’t expose a prohibited part of her body,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Plancarte previously challenged the conviction before the state’s Court of Appeals, arguing that she had the same right to expose her chest in public as men. A three-judge panel rejected her appeal in a 2-1 decision.
Previous court rulings have labeled public toplessness by women but not men as indecent exposure, said Jim Haase, senior assistant county attorney for Olmsted County. The state law protects women who are breastfeeding from indecent exposure charges, which Haase said is evidence that female breasts are considered private parts under Minnesota law.
It’s unclear when the Minnesota Supreme Court will issue a ruling.
Ohio
Man gets 3-year probation for threatening New Mexico DA
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — An Ohio man avoided prison time and was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for sending a threatening voicemail with racist overtones to a New Mexico district attorney last year, authorities said.
Prosecutors said 47-year-old Donald Walter Fowler, of Lido, Ohio, didn’t like the way authorities and Gerald Byers were handling the investigation of a fatal shooting involving a Las Cruces police officer last October.
They said Fowler targeted Byers, who is Black.
Fowler was accused of leaving an expletive-filled voicemail on Oct. 26 for Byers, which included “there should be a noose in your future.”
Authorities said records traced the call to Fowler.
He was arrested in November, indicted the following month and reached a plea agreement in June.
Fowler was facing up to three years in prison at his sentencing for a felony charge of communicating interstate threats.
Jessica Martin, a lawyer for Fowler, didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment on the case.
Byers said Fowler’s threat disrupted police agency operations, required enhanced security measures at the district attorney’s office and necessitated additional security measures for his home and family.
The U.S. is gripped by intense debates regarding justice, race and democracy. Black prosecutors have emerged as central figures litigating those issues, highlighting the achievements and limits of Black communal efforts to reform the justice system.
