PHOENIX (AP) — The Phoenix Suns have fired an employee who filed a lawsuit against the team in May that alleges discrimination, harassment based on race and unlawful retaliation.
The Suns confirmed on Monday that Gene Traylor — who was hired by the Suns in January 2023 as the director of safety, security and risk management — is no longer with the organization.
“While the organization typically does not comment on internal personnel matters, Mr. Traylor, or his attorney, Sheree Wright, apparently opted to publicize his termination," Stacey Mitch, the Suns' senior vice president of communications, said in a statement.
"Mr. Traylor was terminated from his position as a security manager because an independent, outside investigation concluded that he violated company policies with respect to confidential information about security operations and he was intentionally untruthful with the investigator.”
One of the lawyers representing Traylor — Cortney Walters — responded that her client's firing was not part of a “legitimate investigation.”
“It was a retaliatory act disguised as policy enforcement,” Walters said in a statement. "It is part of a broader pattern of discrimination and retaliation that we have outlined in this lawsuit and in several others we have filed. The Suns have cultivated a workplace culture that silences employees who raise concerns, punishes those who speak up, and protects those in power. We will continue to confront this toxic culture and stand by our client to hold the Suns accountable.”
ESPN first reported that Traylor had been fired.
In the May lawsuit, Traylor alleges that a security presentation he gave to management led to retaliation by members of the organization, and that he was eventually demoted.
Traylor’s suit also says that the Suns failed multiple arena security tests. It alleges that the Phoenix Police Department’s Homeland Defense Bureau conducted tests in 2023 and 2024 and plainclothes officers were able to smuggle weapons into the arena.
Traylor’s suit is the latest of multiple legal actions against the Suns and WNBA team Phoenix Mercury, which are both owned by Mat Ishbia.
In November, Andrea Trischan sued the team, alleging racial discrimination and unlawful retaliation that led to her termination. Trischan was the team’s former manager of diversity, equity and inclusion for about 10 months in 2022 and 2023.
Earlier this month, former Mercury interim coach Nikki Blue filed a lawsuit against the organization, alleging unequal treatment based on race and gender, unequal pay based on race and that her employment was terminated in retaliation for complaints about unequal treatment.
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