doug christie
- Thread starter kontac
- Start date
B
Suit: Talking to Kings' player led to harassment, her firing
Kelly Johnson
Staff Writer
A spokeswoman for the Sacramento Kings who was let go last autumn has sued the Kings organization, player Doug Christie and his wife, Jackie, alleging harassment and discrimination that she contends resulted from Christie's practice of avoiding contact with all women but his wife.
Stephanie Shepard, who was assistant manager and later manager of media relations for the Kings over four years, accuses the team of reducing her responsibilities and eventually terminating her employment after Jackie Christie complained about her because she gave Doug Christie a phone message.
The case is built on a rare set of allegations in workplace discrimination law, with an employee's family member accused, rather than a supervisor or co-worker.
Her suit, filed May 27 in Sacramento County Superior Court, alleges sexual harassment, unlawful retaliation, gender discrimination, violation of civil rights, battery and infliction of emotional distress. The suit names Doug and Jackie Christie, Shepard's supervisor, Troy Hanson, Kings general manager Geoff Petrie, Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, Maloof Sports & Entertainment and Sacramento Kings Ltd. Partnership as defendants. She seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees and costs.
Maloof Sports & Entertainment has not received documentation about the lawsuit and therefore cannot comment, spokeswoman Sonja Brown said.
Doug Christie's agent, J.R. Harris, also declined to comment. "We're not talking about that right now," Harris said. Although Christie has never faced such litigation, Harris said NBA players must deal with frivolous lawsuits all the time.
Shepard's attorney, John McGinnis of Pasadena, had no comment.
Talk of the league: Christie, the team's swingman and an NBA all-defensive player, is known around the league for sending hand-signal messages to his wife from the floor during the many games she attends. According to published reports, he avoids conversation with other women out of respect for his wife. Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal created a local furor when he joked in public that Jackie Christie had massaged his feet to help him recover from an injury.
On at least one occasion when Doug Christie played for the Toronto Raptors, according to a New York Times report, Jackie Christie confronted a young female fan who was seeking an autograph and kiss from her husband, telling her in a loud voice to back off because "she was touching someone she shouldn't have."
Shepard is a "highly accomplished manager of media relations" whose career could have "continued its upward ascent if Doug Christie had never signed with the Kings," the suit contends. When Christie signed with the team for the 2000-01 season, Shepard alleges, she began experiencing "sex-based differential treatment and harassment."
As the only woman working directly with players, Shepard was informed of the Christies' relationship and "warned about (their) discriminatory practices against women," the suit said. Shepard "was confident, however, that Maloof's supervisors and agents would prevent the (couple's) reputation for misogyny to effect the professional working environment in which she expected to continue growing. She was sorely mistaken," the suit contends.
Don't speak to him: Trouble began, Shepard alleges, after she delivered a phone message to Doug Christie as one of her duties. "As a result, Jackie Christie aggressively approached Ms. Shepard the next day and instructed her never to speak to Mr. Christie, regardless of the professional circumstance," the suit says.
Shepard alleges that her boss, Hanson, instructed her to avoid Christie, allowing "personal discriminatory preference to become (team and Maloof Sports) policy." Her work responsibilities, she contends, declined after Jackie Christie "made her wishes known" to Kings representatives.
Shepard claims the number of players with whom she worked was cut and she was told to stay out of areas for family and friends of players, and hotel lobbies.
The conduct escalated, the suit alleges, to "outright threats and physical intimidation. Jackie Christie physically 'bumped' Ms. Shepard on several occasions."
Shepard was "terminated" last October. The lawsuit did not elaborate. As is the standard process, Shepard received "right to sue" letter from the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
The crux of such a case is why Shepard was fired, said John Adkisson, a partner with the Sacramento law office of Hanson Bridgett who specializes in employment discrimination cases but is not involved in this case. Often, an employer can answer allegations in a case and explain why they did not constitute discrimination, he said.
Raptors say they made no changes: The Toronto Raptors did not have to change anything operationally for Doug Christie while he played for that team, a Raptors spokesman said. "We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We didn't need to," the spokesman said.
An August 2002 account in The New York Times by Mike Wise, a former Sacramento journalist, on the Christies and their relationship said Jackie Christie was uncomfortable with female employees of the Raptors in the team locker room, so Doug Christie changed clothes in an adjacent room.
"With few exceptions, Doug Christie does not look at other women, avoiding dialogue or even eye contact," Wise wrote. "'Every conversation I've ever had with a woman since we've been married besides my wife she knows about,' he said."
Kelly Johnson
Staff Writer
A spokeswoman for the Sacramento Kings who was let go last autumn has sued the Kings organization, player Doug Christie and his wife, Jackie, alleging harassment and discrimination that she contends resulted from Christie's practice of avoiding contact with all women but his wife.
Stephanie Shepard, who was assistant manager and later manager of media relations for the Kings over four years, accuses the team of reducing her responsibilities and eventually terminating her employment after Jackie Christie complained about her because she gave Doug Christie a phone message.
The case is built on a rare set of allegations in workplace discrimination law, with an employee's family member accused, rather than a supervisor or co-worker.
Her suit, filed May 27 in Sacramento County Superior Court, alleges sexual harassment, unlawful retaliation, gender discrimination, violation of civil rights, battery and infliction of emotional distress. The suit names Doug and Jackie Christie, Shepard's supervisor, Troy Hanson, Kings general manager Geoff Petrie, Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, Maloof Sports & Entertainment and Sacramento Kings Ltd. Partnership as defendants. She seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees and costs.
Maloof Sports & Entertainment has not received documentation about the lawsuit and therefore cannot comment, spokeswoman Sonja Brown said.
Doug Christie's agent, J.R. Harris, also declined to comment. "We're not talking about that right now," Harris said. Although Christie has never faced such litigation, Harris said NBA players must deal with frivolous lawsuits all the time.
Shepard's attorney, John McGinnis of Pasadena, had no comment.
Talk of the league: Christie, the team's swingman and an NBA all-defensive player, is known around the league for sending hand-signal messages to his wife from the floor during the many games she attends. According to published reports, he avoids conversation with other women out of respect for his wife. Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal created a local furor when he joked in public that Jackie Christie had massaged his feet to help him recover from an injury.
On at least one occasion when Doug Christie played for the Toronto Raptors, according to a New York Times report, Jackie Christie confronted a young female fan who was seeking an autograph and kiss from her husband, telling her in a loud voice to back off because "she was touching someone she shouldn't have."
Shepard is a "highly accomplished manager of media relations" whose career could have "continued its upward ascent if Doug Christie had never signed with the Kings," the suit contends. When Christie signed with the team for the 2000-01 season, Shepard alleges, she began experiencing "sex-based differential treatment and harassment."
As the only woman working directly with players, Shepard was informed of the Christies' relationship and "warned about (their) discriminatory practices against women," the suit said. Shepard "was confident, however, that Maloof's supervisors and agents would prevent the (couple's) reputation for misogyny to effect the professional working environment in which she expected to continue growing. She was sorely mistaken," the suit contends.
Don't speak to him: Trouble began, Shepard alleges, after she delivered a phone message to Doug Christie as one of her duties. "As a result, Jackie Christie aggressively approached Ms. Shepard the next day and instructed her never to speak to Mr. Christie, regardless of the professional circumstance," the suit says.
Shepard alleges that her boss, Hanson, instructed her to avoid Christie, allowing "personal discriminatory preference to become (team and Maloof Sports) policy." Her work responsibilities, she contends, declined after Jackie Christie "made her wishes known" to Kings representatives.
Shepard claims the number of players with whom she worked was cut and she was told to stay out of areas for family and friends of players, and hotel lobbies.
The conduct escalated, the suit alleges, to "outright threats and physical intimidation. Jackie Christie physically 'bumped' Ms. Shepard on several occasions."
Shepard was "terminated" last October. The lawsuit did not elaborate. As is the standard process, Shepard received "right to sue" letter from the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
The crux of such a case is why Shepard was fired, said John Adkisson, a partner with the Sacramento law office of Hanson Bridgett who specializes in employment discrimination cases but is not involved in this case. Often, an employer can answer allegations in a case and explain why they did not constitute discrimination, he said.
Raptors say they made no changes: The Toronto Raptors did not have to change anything operationally for Doug Christie while he played for that team, a Raptors spokesman said. "We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We didn't need to," the spokesman said.
An August 2002 account in The New York Times by Mike Wise, a former Sacramento journalist, on the Christies and their relationship said Jackie Christie was uncomfortable with female employees of the Raptors in the team locker room, so Doug Christie changed clothes in an adjacent room.
"With few exceptions, Doug Christie does not look at other women, avoiding dialogue or even eye contact," Wise wrote. "'Every conversation I've ever had with a woman since we've been married besides my wife she knows about,' he said."
