Sage Steele Leaves ESPN: ESPN and its host Sage Steele have reached a settlement to terminate her lawsuit. This occurred after she was disciplined for discussing ESPN’s requirement that all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Sage Steele Leaves ESPN
Sage Steele announced on Tuesday that she is departing the Bristol, Connecticut-based company. Since 2007, she had been employed there.
Sage Steele’s Twitter status: Having effectively settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave in order to more freely exercise my rights under the First Amendment. I am thankful for all of the fantastic experiences I’ve had over the past 16 years and eager to begin my next chapter.
“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so that I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,” she wrote. I am thankful for all the fantastic experiences I’ve had over the past 16 years and eager to begin my next chapter!
Steele was suspended for ten days in October 2021 and removed from several high-profile positions, including coverage of the New York City Marathon, the Rose Parade, and the annual ESPNW Summit, for criticising ESPN and The Walt Disney Co.’s requirement that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Her lawsuit, submitted in Connecticut Superior Court in May 2022, alleges that she was terminated for criticising the requirement that employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Additionally, the lawsuit stated that she must apologise to the people.
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Podcast Contentiousness
Steele’s lawsuit alleges that she made disparaging remarks about ESPN while appearing on a podcast hosted by former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler and immediately after receiving the required vaccination.
She stated that she respected everyone’s decision to get vaccinated, but that she found a corporate mandate “sick” and “terrifying in many ways.” According to the claim, she also stated that she did not wish to be vaccinated, but she did so in order to maintain her job and support her family.
Steele stated on the programme that she is biracial and questioned why former President Barack Obama listed “Black” on the most recent U.S. Census form. She also stated that female authors “must take responsibility” if they are criticised for their attire.
In the lawsuit, Steele’s attorneys wrote that ESPN “forced Steele to apologise, allowed media to destroy her, and let media reports that she had been suspended go unchallenged, and permitted Steele’s colleagues to defame her in violation of company policy without so much as a reprimand,”.
In June, ESPN offered to settle the case for slightly more than $500,000, plus the attorneys’ fees and costs.
The parameters of the deal announced on Tuesday were not immediately made public, and Steele’s attorneys did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment. In a statement, ESPN merely verified Steele’s departure from the network.
