REPORT: Former Sacramento Kings Official Sues Team Alleging Sexual Harassment, Wrongful Termination
Jul 22, 2022, 6:01 PM
(Photo by Ben Green/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ben Green/Getty Images)
A former Sacramento Kings official is suing the team, claiming she was terminated after reporting sexual harassment by a colleague during a Las Vegas road trip in August 2021, according to a report from Sam Stanton of The Sacramento Bee Friday.
The plantiff, Sydney Haydel, filed suit in Sacramento Superior Court alleging wrongful termination, sexual harassment, whistle blower retaliation and other claims.
She began working for the organization in July of 2021 as director of operations for the Stockton Kings and player development coordinator for the NBA team as well.
Haydel’s suit claims that while on the trip, occurring Aug. 5, 2021 during a summer tournament, a colleague, Akachi Okugo, then an assistant coach for the Stockton team, “strongly encouraged” her to join the team and staffers at an after-dinner party, according to Stanton.
“Okugo made numerous unwelcome advances towards Plaintiff and pressed his body against hers while asking her if she had a boyfriend,” the lawsuit states. “Stockton Kings Head Coach Bobby Jackson and Assistant Coach Jimmy Alapag witnessed Okugo’s harassment of Plaintiff, but they did nothing to address it or try to stop it.
“To Plaintiffs horror, Okugo put his fingers in Haydel’s mouth.”
Okugo is not named as a defendant in the suit.
Terry Wills, the Kings’ labor and employment lawyer, issued a statement saying the team had not yet been served with the suit but was aware of it and denied the allegations, according to The Bee journalist.
“The accusations of wrongdoing are false and will be addressed through the appropriate legal process,” the statement read.
To read the full article from The Sacramento Bee, click here
