In April, Sage Steele filed a lawsuit against ESPN and its parent company alleging the network retaliated against her for exercising her free speech. The issue came when she appeared with former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler and questioned Disney for forcing employees to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
“I respect everyone’s decision, I really do, but to mandate it is sick and it’s scary to me in many ways. I just, I’m not surprised it got to this point, especially with Disney, I mean a global company like that,” Steele told Cutler.
She then commented on the U.S. Census asking her to mark a race.
“If they make [me] choose a race, I go, ‘both,’” she said. “Barack Obama chose black and he’s biracial.’ And I’m like, ‘Congratulations to the president. That’s his thing.’ I think that’s fascinating considering his black dad was nowhere to be found and his white mom and grandma raised him, but hey, you do you. I’m gonna do me.”
Negative reactions came from former co-workers as well as current colleagues like Ryan Clark, who refused to appear on set with Steele.
According to Front Office Sports, ESPN is ready to put this behind them as they are offering her $501,000 plus some attorney fees as a settlement.
The statement offer also comes with a statement that it is “not be construed as an admission that defendants are liable for any of the claims asserted in this action, or that plaintiff has suffered any damage as a result of any of those claims.”
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Steele also claimed to have been suspended by the network for two days as a result of speaking her opinion on controversial topics.
“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,” Steele’s attorney said in a statement when the lawsuit was initially filed. “Sage is standing up to corporate America to ensure employees don’t get their rights trampled on or their opinions silenced.”
Steele was seeking “unspecified damages” in that lawsuit. There’s no word if the damages she was seeking is higher than the settlement offer she is getting from her employer.
While the trial is currently scheduled to begin in March 2024, the two sides entered non-binding mediation this March.
