Suns’ employee secret email sparks age bias lawsuit

Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX – Phoenix Suns employee Jason Cope is suing the franchise for age discrimination, which he claims began with a secret, unsent email according to Zach Buchanan of the Phoenix New Times.. The unsent email detailed a proposition for current workers in the SunsVision department to receive raises, but not enough people signed on, so the email remained unsent. However, Cope believes that the Suns somehow found out about the email because of a push from the franchise to make Cope and his coworkers sign an agreement to become independent contractors.

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There is no evidence that the Suns found out about this unsent email, but Cope believes that was the beginning of the age discrimination he began to face as a part of the organization.

Jason Cope on the new agreement:

“It didn’t sit right with me,” Cope said to Phoenix New Times. “I was the last person to sign a contract because I was so against it.”

Cope stated that many of the employees asked to transfer were middle-aged or older, and he claims that the Suns did this because older employees tended to cost them more to provide health benefits, which again has no evidence.

The 46-year-old Suns employee highlighted that the franchise would hire younger employees for a full-time role after the contractor issue. Cope’s fear of being replaced by younger workers was amplified when a young employee stated to him:

“Jesus fucking Christ, do you have to be white and 40 to get any respect in this place?”

The interaction led him to report it to his supervisor. Soon, Cope met with Joy Harper, head of Suns’ HR. The meeting went south when discussing contractor status, as Cope was allegedly characterized as “disgruntled” by Harper because of the change.

The meeting between Cope and Harper led to the Suns’ employee being given a three-month suspension. Cope believed that he would never work for the Suns again saying “I left there crying.”

Sheree Wright of IBF Law is representing Cope and former team manager of diversity Andrea Trischan, who is also suing the team for racial discrimination and retaliation. The Suns responded to the lawsuits by pointing out Wright’s recent probation with the State Bar of Arizona because of numerous ethical violations.

In 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court put her on probation for a year for claims of alleged racial bias, with no good law or fact to support the claim. Two years later, Wright was put on a two-year probation because of violations including failing to communicate with clients, failing to comply with a court order, and disclosing confidential information about a past client.

Senior Suns vice president of communications Stacey Mitch on the lawsuit:

“This is yet another attempt by attorney Sheree Wright to engineer a lawsuit using false claims, and this time it is based on age discrimination. Ms. Wright is currently on probation by the Supreme Court of Arizona for unethical practices. This clearly defines her character, and we will not be extorted by her shameful scheme,” Mitch said. “These assertions are false, and we will have no further comment in the press. We will refute accordingly in our response to the court.”

Cope and Wright will bring up in court their concerns about age discrimination and an unsafe working environment for employees and contractors by failing to stop a rat infestation. The source of the rat problem is located in a parking structure below the arena, according to Cope. The amount in the lawsuit has not been disclosed, but Cope is still reportedly working on games despite the recent legal battle against the franchise.

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Reporter Tanner Tortorella covers general assignment for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @TannerTSports