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Steele filed the lawsuit in Connecticut, where ESPN is based.
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“ESPN violated her free speech rights, retaliated against her, reprimanded her, scapegoated her, allowed the media and her peers to excoriate her and forced her to apologize simply because her personal opinions did not align with Disney’s corporate philosophy of the moment,” her attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement. Steele’s suit points to alleged instances of other ESPN employees making political comments on-air and social media without being punished. It claims ESPN’s handling of the entire ordeal was selective enforcement of a network policy that prohibits its employees from taking positions on political or social issues. The complaint also highlights alleged instances of colleagues publicly criticizing Steele. Furthermore, Steele’s suit claims she was only assigned to work the Masters after her lawyers sent a letter to ESPN’s human resources department complaining about her treatment in February of this year. Steele additionally claims in the suit that after she returned from her “benching,” ESPN removed her from assignments such as hosting the New York City Marathon and ESPNW Summit, which she had hosted since 2010.
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The lawsuit claims that instead of outright telling Steele she was suspended, ESPN told her she would be “sidelined” or “benched.” It also says ESPN never corrected media reports that stated Steele was suspended. “As a point of fact, she was never suspended.” “Sage remains a valued contributor on some of ESPN’s highest profile content, including the recent Masters telecasts and anchoring our noon SportsCenter,” said a statement from the company. However, Steele’s suit claims ESPN forced her to issue the “humiliating public apology” and suspended her. We are in the midst of an extremely challenging time that impacts all of us, and it’s more critical than ever that we communicate constructively and thoughtfully,” Steele’s apology read. “I know my recent comments created controversy for the company, and I apologize. The comments ignited a backlash against Steele on social media, and she issued an apology. We know what we’re doing when we put certain things on.” “We need to be responsible as women, too.
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“When you dress like that, I’m not saying you deserve the gross comments, but you know what you’re doing when you put that outfit on, too,” she said. She claimed they bear some responsibility for sexism aimed toward them. Steele went on to talk about women who wear provocative clothing in the workplace. But hey, you do you, I’m going to do me.” I think that’s fascinating, considering his black dad was nowhere to be found, but his white mom and grandma raised him. “And I’m like, well, congratulations to the president. “‘Barack Obama chose ‘black,’ and he’s biracial,’” Steele said Walters responded. “If they make you choose a race, she’s like, ‘What are you going to put?’ I go, ‘Well, both.’” “She’s like, ‘Well, what happens when you … fill out your census?’” Steele said. Steele then talked about her racial identity, saying The View host Barbara Walters ridiculed her decision to identify as biracial. “I just, I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, I mean a global company like that.” “I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is sick, and it’s scary to me in many ways,” Steele said. “I work for a company that mandates it, and I had until September 30 to get it done, or I’m out,” Steele told Cutler. She said she complied with the mandate only to keep her job. Steele told Cutler she had recently received the COVID-19 vaccine only because Disney mandated it for all its employees.