PHOENIX (AP) — A former Phoenix Suns employee is suing the team, alleging racial discrimination and unlawful retaliation that led to her termination, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
Andrea Trischan, the team's former manager of diversity, equity and inclusion, said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday that “potential financial misconduct” and sexual misconduct also took place by team employees. Trischan worked for the Suns for about 10 months from September 2022 until July 2023.
“Andrea’s case is built on substantial evidence that establishes a clear and undeniable pattern of discrimination within the Suns organization,” Trischan's lawyer Sheree Wright wrote in a statement.
ESPN and The Arizona Republic first reported on the lawsuit.
Trischan was hired in 2022 after former owner Robert Sarver was suspended and fined $10 million for “workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies.” Sarver eventually sold the team to Mat Ishbia, who paid roughly $4 billion for the Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
After being fired in 2023, Trischan filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office’s civil rights division. That was dismissed on Nov. 5, according to ESPN and the Arizona Republic.
“Ms. Trischan’s case was dismissed by the Arizona Attorney General’s office earlier this week,” Suns and Mercury Senior Vice President of Communications Stacey Mitch wrote in a statement. “Her claims have been without merit from day one, and now this lawsuit, in which she is seeking $60M, is based on the same claims that were just dismissed. We are fully confident the courts will agree her story is completely fabricated.”
Wright wrote that Trischan wants to prove her case in court “rather than relying on a government entity constrained by limited resources and an overwhelming caseload.”
“Andrea remains unwavering in her pursuit of justice and is prepared to share her story and evidence with a jury,” Wright added.
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FILE - The Phoenix Suns logo is seen on June 6, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A CIA employee accused of leaking classified information assessing Israel's earlier plans to attack Iran was ordered by a federal judge Thursday to face felony charges in Virginia.
The FBI arrested Asif William Rahman this week in Cambodia, and he made his first court appearance Thursday in Guam. A judge there ordered that he be transferred to northern Virginia, where he was indicted last week on two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.
Court documents do not identify the federal agency that employed him, but a person familiar with the case who was not authorized to discuss it publicly confirmed to The Associated Press that it was the CIA.
The indictment does not delve into the details of the allegations, but says Rahman had a top secret security clearance and access to sensitive compartmented information. It accuses him of having had unauthorized possession of top secret documents relating to national defense information and then illegally sharing them.
It was not immediately clear who will represent Rahman in Virginia and can speak on his behalf.
The charges stem from the documents, attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, appearing last month on a channel of the Telegram messaging app. The documents noted that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.
Israel carried out a retaliatory attack on air defense systems and missile manufacturing facilities in Iran in late October.
The documents were shareable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The emergence of the documents triggered an FBI investigation that examined how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised.
Officials also worked to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted.
FILE - The FBI's J. Edgar Hoover headquarters building is seen in Washington on Nov. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - The FBI seal is pictured in Omaha, Neb., Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
