Star ESPN sportscaster Sage Steele’s salary has been revealed amid her battle with Disney.
With the company keen on releasing north of 7,000 employees this year, it appears Steele’s lawsuit could see her avoid getting fired.
Front Office Sports is reporting that Steele is among the highest-paid staffers at The Worldwide Leader in Sports and makes $3 million a year, with another year left to run on her contract.
The 50-year-old SportsCenter host is currently at odds with her employer, having sued Disney last April, accusing the company of violating her first-amendment rights by suspending her two days after she branded the COVID-19 mandates which were in place at the time “sick and scary” on Jay Cutler’s podcast.
ESPN has denied suspending Steele.
While Disney continues to make cuts across the board, Sage should be safe from the axe as laying her off would likely open them up to additional claims.
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Her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has threatened fresh court action should ESPN fire Steele during current legal proceedings.
“There’s always the potential to add a new claim for retaliation,” employment law attorney Hillary Lynch indicated to the aforementioned publication. “It could be seen as a continuing violation of what she’s already asserted.”
“You can’t fire somebody [for filing a lawsuit],” Freedman said. “Nobody would. Why wouldn’t they lay her off already?”
Disney was reported to have offered Steele a $501,000 settlement last week. The proposal was rejected, with Freedman asserting the company “cannot purchase their employee’s constitutional rights no matter how powerful they think they are.”
