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    • Arizona’s attorney general is closing the investigation of a former Suns employee
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    Arizona’s attorney general is closing the investigation of a former Suns employee

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    SALT LAKE CITY – Former Phoenix Suns employee Andrea Trischan’s lawsuit filed against the franchise with the Civil Rights Division of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office has been dismissed.

    Trischan filed a discrimination and wrongful termination complaint against the Suns, seeking $60 million. She was the team’s diversity, equity and inclusion program manager.

    “We are pleased that the ACRD has dismissed Andrea Trischan’s charges,” Stacey Mitch, senior vice president of communications for the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, said in a statement released Tuesday. “As we have said from the beginning, her claims were baseless.”

    Trischan’s attorney, Sheree Wright, said they plan to appeal the attorney general’s decision and confirmed the plan to file this week in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, the federal court.

    “It was inevitable that we would file charges anyway,” Trischan said. “This doesn’t mean anything. This doesn’t mean anything at all. This is probably better for a jury trial where the jury is diverse and the pool is diverse.”

    Wright said she is also representing two additional clients who have filed discrimination complaints against the Suns — and that she is aware of at least one more complaint being handled by another attorney.

    “There are multiple complaints where the same common theme emerges,” Wright said.

    The Civil Rights Division concluded Trischan’s indictment on November 5 with the following conclusion:

    “Based on its investigation, the Civil Rights Division concludes that the information obtained is not sufficient to establish violations of the statute. This does not confirm that the defendant is complying with the statutes. No finding has been made as to any other issues that might be raised as being raised by this allegation/complaint. This notice of the party’s right of appeal is attached.”

    Wright clarified the Division of Civil Rights Section’s conclusion.

    “The attorney general did not have enough evidence to determine that the Suns were practiced in a discriminatory manner,” Wright said. ‘That doesn’t mean the case has no value. It’s a lack of evidence.”

    Wright said Trischan was “unrepresented for a long time” regarding her complaints with the Suns. Trischan filed a complaint with the EEOC and the Arizona Attorney General’s office in November 2023, but did not retain representation until July 2024.

    Trischan had an emotional press conference outside Footprint Center in late September, saying the franchise has attacked her character and continues to allow “toxic” behavior within the organization.

    “This past year has been a roller coaster ride of emotions,” said Trischan, standing next to Wright. “Over the past year, the Phoenix Suns and Mercury have had the opportunity to drag my name through the mud, assassinate my character and stand behind the negative, toxic, racist, sexist and misogynistic behavior that still exists despite that Robert Sarver had to sell. the team.”

    This was after the Suns released a statement saying her allegations were “ridiculous.”

    Trischan was hired in September 2022, days after the NBA suspended Sarver and fined the then-Suns team owner $10 million for “workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies” found in the 10-month NBA investigation into his 18-year tenure as team owner.

    Trischan was fired less than ten months into her position.

    “My client is neither a gold digger nor the stereotype of an ‘angry black woman’ who was unable to do her job despite the misleading narrative the Suns organization wants to promote,” Wright said in September. “The truth is exactly the opposite.

    “She is a highly competent and well-trained professional with a strong work ethic and deeply held family values. The discrimination she experienced within the organization was not only real, but widespread.”

    Do you have an opinion on the current state of the suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin

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