Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis is being sued for sexual harassment by a former team employee.
The woman, Erika, says Ellis began sending her racy text messages in November, including explicit photos of himself. She is also suing the Warriors, accusing the team of covering it up, trying to buy her silence and eventually pushing her out after Ellis’ wife found out about the messages.
The Warriors deny it. A team representative said the relationship between Ellis and the employee was consensual. “When we were made aware of a consensual relationship between Mr. Ellis and the plaintiff, we did what an organization should do. We told both to stop, promptly, directly and fairly,” the rep said. “The Warriors have never taken any action against the plaintiff for any inappropriate reason, and we deny the allegations she is making.”
Erika’s attorney says the messages were absolutely not consensual. “And if it was, why was my client’s job duties removed and nothing was done to Mr. Ellis?” the attorney said. “To me that smacks of sexual harassment.”
Ellis has not commented on the lawsuit. It will be up to the courts to decide what happened, but either way, the Warriors now have a serious problem on their hands.
