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Once again, the NBA's biggest circus, the Phoenix Suns, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, a current employee sued the team in U.S. District Court in Arizona. According to ESPN, he cited allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
A current or former employee has filed the fourth lawsuit against the Suns in the last seven months.
This lawsuit was filed by lawyers representing Gene Traylor, the Suns' safety, security, and risk management director. Traylor identified the franchise's safety, financial, and reputational risks in this role. He joined the Suns in January 2023.
In 2023, Traylor submitted a presentation for management that outlined a handful of specific incidents, but the most notable ones were the following, per ESPN:
- In March, an unnamed former part-time employee was found to have stolen more than $40,000 in shoes, merchandise, and apparel during their employment.
- In April, a “disgruntled subject” interrupted a Suns photo-op with team executives, including team president Josh Bartelstein.
- And in June, a political influencer “harassed” former Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, delaying a team flight by 3½ hours.
After the presentation, Traylor alleges that the Suns retaliated against him. The retaliation included his being demoted a year later and the team discouraging him from taking leave after he was diagnosed with cancer.
The Suns' response was to denounce one of the two attorneys representing Traylor, Sheree Wright, the other being Courtney Walters.
“The Supreme Court of Arizona has twice disciplined attorney Sheree Wright for committing numerous violations of the rules of professional conduct, and she is currently serving a two-year probation with the State Bar of Arizona,” a Suns spokeswoman said on Thursday.
In a joint statement on Thursday, Wright and Walters responded that the Suns “have resorted to personal and defamatory attacks” against Wright in a “transparent and calculated attempt to shift the public narrative, discredit the attorneys involved, and avoid accountability for their misconduct.”
The lawsuit also states that on Dec. 17, 2023, and Dec. 3, 2024, almost a year apart, the Phoenix Police Department's Homeland Defense Bureau conducted a field test of the security measures at the Suns' arena during a game. Officers dressed in plainclothes attempted to enter the arena using valid game tickets while concealing weapons. In 2023, officers successfully brought a knife undetected, while in 2024, it got even worse, and a handgun was able to get in undetected.
Phoenix also failed the one the NBA conducted, despite refuting this allegation.
Traylor is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages after he filed his complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Arizona Attorney General's office's civil rights division in November 2024.
This becomes one more thorn in Mat Ishbia's side as Phoenix's owner.
