Brooklyn Nets, fired team attendants settle discrimination suit
Reprints
A discrimination lawsuit filed against the Brooklyn Nets basketball team by two former team attendants has been settled for an undisclosed amount.
Edward Bolden Jr. and Juwan Williams sued the NBA team in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn in November, according to the complaint in Edward Bolden, Jr. and Juwan Williams vs. Brooklyn Nets, LLC.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs, who are black, charged that despite “great efforts” to secure full-time jobs with the Nets they were told by their white supervisor that neither would progress beyond their team attendant positions, although he had mentored other, non-Black team attendants.
They also said they expressed opinions about police brutality, and the supervisor expressed his disagreement on the issue.
The superintendent terminated them in November 2020 without providing a reason, according to the complaint. A team official later told them that the supervisor had said they were “lazy” or unable to follow directions, the complaint said.
Their lawsuit charged the team with race discrimination and retaliation under federal, state and New York City law.
The team denied the charges in a response filed in February.
In a letter Thursday to the court, plaintiff attorney Edward Cerasia II, of Cerasia Law LLC in New York, said the parties had agreed to settle the case and were “in the process of finalizing the settlement papers.”
Mr. Cerasia had no further comment, and the team’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
