ESPN legend Chris Berman, known for his bombastic football calls, is just one of several boldfaced names that appears in an explosive and far-reaching sexual harassment suit filed against the network in Connecticut district court Sunday by a former employee.
Berman, 62, is accused of leaving a "racially disparaging" voicemail for Jemele Hill two years ago, one of many examples used to paint a picture of a hostile workplace that existed at ESPN for women. However, Hill called the allegations against Berman "dangerously inaccurate."
"A few years ago, I had a personal conflict with Chris Berman, but the way this conflict has been characterized is dangerously inaccurate," Hill said in a statement. "Chris never left any racially disparaging remarks on my voicemail and our conflict was handled swiftly and with the utmost professionalism.
"I felt as if my concerns were taken seriously by ESPN and addressed in a way that made me feel like a valued employee. Frankly, I'm more disappointed that someone I considered to be a friend at one point would misrepresent and relay a private conversation without my knowledge _ in which I simply attempted to be a sounding board _ for personal gain."
The complaint, which begins with the line, "ESPN is, and always has been, a company rife with misogyny," was filed against the sports network and includes several big names beyond Berman.
Former ESPN host and legal analyst Adrienne Lawrence filed the suit, primarily claiming John Buccigross sexually harassed her during the two years she worked in Bristol. Lawrence claims ESPN did not address her complaints against Buccigross and believes she was let go last summer because she complained about the way was being treated.
Former SNY and current ESPN announcer Chris Cotter is also accused of trying to kiss Lawrence but she rebuffed him, according to the suit. Former SportsCenter host Jonathan Coachman and Bomani Jones are also named in the 85-page complaint. Coachman, who now works for WWE, is accused of hitting on female colleagues, and Jones is accused of looking at Lawrence with "elevator eyes."
He "slowly looked (Lawrence) up and down in a sexualized manner, making Ms. Lawrence feel extremely uncomfortable," according to the suit, which alleges rampant mistreatment of women at ESPN, including accusations that male executives "keep 'scorecards' naming female colleagues they are targeting for sex," openly watch porn on their computers and make vulgar comments about women, sometimes in front of them. Lawrence alleges male colleagues regularly discussed which women in the office they'd like to have sex with, and in one case talked about what Rihanna must "taste like" in front of Lawrence.
The 85-page complaint, prepared by Lawrence's attorney, Brian S. Cohen, Esq., of Lachtman Cohen P.C. in Greenwich, Conn., reads like an oral history of sexual misconduct at ESPN going back to the 1980s.
Claims that ESPN is not a safe space for women resurfaced amid the #MeToo movement in December when the Boston Globe published an explosive expose that detailed some of Lawrence's complaints and pointed a finger at, among others, Buccigross and fantasy sports analyst Matthew Berry for inappropriate behavior.
Berry has admitted to taking former model and sports personality Jenn Sterger to a strip club when they were interviewing at ESPN. He has said the off-site trip "was not a smart decision and I regret going." As for a picture he took there in which he is pointing at Sterger's breasts, Berry has said it is "personally embarrassing and I did not mean any offense."
Lawrence claims Buccigross made unwanted sexual advances under the guise of mentorship while she was trying to work her way up from the network's "ESPN the Fellowship" program, which she joined after leaving a job working as a lawyer.
"After reaching out to her with the promise of mentorship, Buccigross exploited his position of authority over her by calling her 'doll' and coercing her to join him for dinner given his limited availability," according to court papers, via the Connecticut Law Tribune. "The suit states the anchor 'tried to groom' Lawrence into a romantic relationship by garnering sympathy by divulging his history as an alleged sexual abuse victim."
Since the Globe story last year, text messages between Lawrence and Buccigross have been published. ESPN initially responded to the story by attempting to clear Buccigross of any wrongdoing. The network offered a partial exchange, which omitted a shirtless image Buccigross sent Lawrence of himself.
"In response to the Boston Globe story, we released portions of a text exchange to provide important context about their friendship," ESPN had said in a statement. "While we didn't include every message submitted in the legal proceeding, we felt the released portions capture the nature of the friendship over a period of months. We purposefully excluded the pictures each party shared in the course of the text conversation."
In a statement last year, Buccigross said he considered Lawrence a "friend" and, "I'm sorry if anything I did or said offended Adrienne. It certainly wasn't my intent."
Lawrence claims ESPN's human resources department colluded with Buccigross to make her allegations disappear.
Now she wants those claims aired in a court of law.
