Why is Sage Steele suing ESPN? Exploring SportsCenter anchor's beef with media network
Sage Steele proved herself to be one of the top on-air voices at ESPN and had the respect of many in the sports industry. Yet, all that changed when she sued her employer over free speech and contract breach accusations last April.
Steele made an appearance on the Uncut with Jay Cutler podcast in September 2021.
She voiced her anger with ESPN's COVID-19 vaccine requirement and briefly discussed former President Barack Obama while speaking on her racial identity. Steele was pulled from the network's airwaves soon the following month.
Cutler noticed that the sports personality had a Band-Aid on her arm. She went on to explain her thoughts on the vaccine mandate:
"I respect everyone's decision. I really do. But to mandate it is sick, and it's scary to me in many ways. But I have a job, a job that I love and, frankly, a job that I need."
Bryan Freedman, her attorney, alleged that ESPN fought back against her client for voicing her personal beliefs beyond work despite being in accordance with the company's employee rules:
Freedman said on Steele's lawsuit:
"Steele was punished for speaking her truth in violation of freedom of speech protections under Connecticut law and the US Constitution.
"ESPN violated her free speech rights, retaliated against her, reprimanded her, scapegoated her, allowed the media and her peers to excoriate her and forced her to apologize simply because her personal opinions did not align with Disney's corporate philosophy of the moment.
"Sage is standing up to corporate America to ensure employees don't get their rights trampled on or their opinions silenced."
Sage Steele and her legal team are seeking damages for ESPN allegedly infringing upon her First Amendment rights and Connecticut law. The state law bans employers from punishing any employee for practising freedom of speech.
Her lawyers also accused ESPN of breaking Steele's contract and purposefully imposing emotional distress on her.
Is Sage Steele Steele employed at ESPN?
Per ESPN's website, Sage Steele joined the network in 2007. More recently, she was the co-anchor for the noon ET edition of SportsCenter.
On August 15, Steele formally announced that she was leaving the network, saying that she was doing so to "exercise her first amendment rights more freely."
She has hosted SportsCenter from various locations such as the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, and the College Football Playoff. The Panama native has hosted the telecast of the Tournament of Roses Parade for ABC.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit NPR and H/T Sportskeeda.
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Akshay Saraswat