A former Sacramento Kings employee is suing the organization, alleging pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
Crystal Lee, a former assistant athletic trainer with the Kings from 2022 to 2025, filed the complaint with the Superior Court of California in Sacramento County on Aug. 11, alleging she was treated unfairly and demoted twice after becoming pregnant and giving birth to her son.
Lee’s representative, Robert King of King & Siegel LLP, told USA TODAY in a statement that they intend to prove their allegations.
“Crystal Lee broke a barrier that had stood for the entire history of the NBA. The Kings’ answer was to tell her she was ‘(expletive)’ for having a baby, demote her twice, hand her job to a man, and fire her the moment she spoke up. A team that sells itself on empowering women owes an explanation,” King said. “You don’t get to brand yourself as a champion for women and then push out the first athletic trainer in league history to give birth on the job. We intend to prove exactly what happened here.”
The Kings denied Lee’s allegations and said they intend to defend the organization.
“The Sacramento Kings categorically deny these allegations and reject the characterization of the organization and its workplace reflected in these claims made by a disgruntled former employee,” Kings attorney Alexis Gabrielson, a partner at Cook Brown, LLP, said in a statement to USA TODAY.
“The Kings take allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously and are committed to maintaining a workplace where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. The organization intends to vigorously defend against these claims through the legal process and will not comment further on the pending proceedings,” Gabrielson added.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY message for comment.
‘Your life is ruined after you have kids’: Court docs detail claims
Lee made multiple accusations regarding her treatment over three years of employment with the Kings.
According to the lawsuit, Lee informed her supervisor, Senior Director of Athletic Health Jaspreet Randhawa, during the 2022-23 season that she was pregnant to which he allegedly responded by laughing and saying “you’re (expletive).”
Court documents allege Randhawa shared his opinion of Lee’s pregnancy, telling her “your life is ruined after you have kids.” Randhawa allegedly made additional comments, disparaging caretaking obligations more generally and the inconvenience he believed they posed, the lawsuit said.
Lee alleged that Randhawa cultivated a work environment that prioritized an “around the clock” schedule without days off and anyone who couldn’t uphold that standard was not worthy of being on the team, the lawsuit stated.
According to the court document, Lee went on maternity leave on May 17, 2023, the day her son was born. She returned from leave a couple of months later in July.
New mother allegedly demoted twice, prevented from traveling
The lawsuit states that one month before Lee began her maternity leave, the Kings decided that she would no longer be able to travel post-pregnancy.
She was “benched” from any Kings road games, leaving travel options to the discretion of the team staff, court documents said. The lawsuit says Lee was prevented from traveling with the team in February 2023. She tended to players during home games only through the end of the season on April 30, 2023.
Lee was not given the opportunity to return to her position as assistant athletic trainer and the team hired a third assistant trainer to replace her, according to the lawsuit.
She was demoted twice, according to court documents. In April 2023, she received her first demotion, the lawsuit states, when Lee was moved to a remote position as an “administrator, health & performance / assistant athletic trainer.”
The lawsuit says Lee was told the demotion would only be temporary. When she requested to resume her duties, including travel, Randhawa and head athletic trainer Joel Noland told her they did not need her, and instead she was replaced by the latest hire, the court document states.
The second demotion occurred in September 2024 when her “athletic trainer” title and Lee’s duties were removed, according to court documents.
Kings basketball operations personnel mentioned in lawsuit
Lee’s allegations went beyond the team’s athletic health department. According to the lawsuit, members of the Kings basketball operations were also included in her claims alleging retaliation, sexual harassment and discrimination.
The lawsuit mentions the following but doesn’t name them as defendants: Kings former assistant general manager Wes Wilcox, current general manager Scott Perry, Vice President of Player Personnel Phil Jabour, head coach Doug Christie and former intern Cameron Brown, the son of former Kings coach Mike Brown.
Wilcox is mentioned after another athletic trainer voiced concerns of Randhawa’s managing style, to which he responded, “whatever (he) says is what we do,” the lawsuit alleges.
Jabour was named in the lawsuit after Lee said she met with him and Randhawa on April 18, 2025, to discuss career development opportunities upcoming in the offseason. Lee voiced concerns to both during the meeting that she was being “excluded and stripped of her athletic training responsibilities because she had a child,” the lawsuit stated.
Court documents allege that Jabour did not respond to Lee’s complaints or her concerns of discrimination, but instead told her there was “no space” to have a hands-on role with the Kings, as an athletic trainer. Jabour offered to transfer Lee to another team, according to the lawsuit, which said Lee was offered opportunities to work for several teams including the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns.
According to the lawsuit, Lee allegedly voiced her concerns to Perry and the court document claims that he responded saying “complainers will not be tolerated” and that he would “fire everybody” if complaints persisted.
The lawsuit alleged sexual harassment claims involving Christie and Brown. Lee claimed in the lawsuit that Christie made sexual glances at her. Court documents allege that Christie would conclude the encounter by saying “don’t report me to HR.”
The lawsuit alleges that Brown repeatedly harassed Lee with invitations to hang out outside of work, to which Lee declined or at times, ignored.
Lawsuit: Lee went to HR before being fired
Lee took her complaints to Kings Senior Vice President of Human Resources Stacy Wegzyn to share her fear of retaliation, according to the lawsuit, and Wegzyn took Lee’s concerns to Perry, the Kings GM.
Lee met with Perry and Wegzyn on June 12, 2025 when she was subsequently fired. According to Wegzyn, the reason for Lee’s termination was failure to meet performance expectations, the lawsuit states. Lee claims none of her pregnancy discrimination concerns were addressed or investigated.
Lee alleges that the entire incident has prevented her from other opportunities. According to the lawsuit, she interviewed with a National Women’s Soccer League club but did not receive a call back when she explained her tenure with the Kings.
Lee requested a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Former Sacramento Kings trainer alleges pregnancy discrimination
Read the full article here
