Phoenix current employee sued the team in U.S. District Court in Arizona on Tuesday and charged discrimination, harassment and retaliation, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by ESPN.

The lawsuit is the fourth lawsuit filed against the Sun by current or former members of the organization in the past seven months.

The latest lawsuit was filed by a lawyer representing Gene Traylor, the Sun's Director of Safety, Safety and Risk Management, who joined the team in January 2023.

One of his main roles is to determine the Sun's safety, financial and reputational risks, Trayler said in the complaint. In 2023, Traylor submitted a review by ESPN, which outlined specific events, including these three:

• In March 2023, an unnamed former part-time employee was found to have stolen more than $40,000 in shoes, goods and clothing during the employment process.

• In April 2023, a "dissatisfied theme" interrupted the sun's photography with team executives including team president Josh Bartelstein.

• In June 2023, a political influencer “harassed” former Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, postponing the fleet’s flights by 3½ hours.

Traylor claims the speech led to retaliation from Suns Management, including his downgrade a year later. He also alleged that the team dissuaded him from taking a leave after being diagnosed with cancer.

In response to ESPN, the Sun condemned Sheree Wright, one of the two lawyers representing Trayer. The other is Courtney Walters.

"The Arizona Supreme Court has two disciplined attorney Sheree Wright committed many violations of professional conduct rules, and she is currently on two-year probation with the State Bar Association," a Sun spokeswoman told ESPN on Thursday.

"This time, Ms. Wright and her client made ridiculous allegations of misconduct by Phoenix Security Department. The allegations are delusional and absolutely wrong."

Wright and Walters said in a joint statement to ESPN on Thursday that the Suns “refer to Wright’s personal and defamatory attacks” to “change the public narrative, discredit the transparent and planned attempts of attorneys involved, and avoid being held accountable for their own misconduct.”

The lawsuit states that the Phoenix Police Department’s Homeland Defense Department conducted on-site tests on the safety measures on the Sun’s stage during the game. Plainclothes officers attempt to enter the arena with valid game tickets while hiding their weapons. Two officers were able to bring their knives into the undiscovered stage.

On December 3, 2024, officials from the same department conducted another on-site test of the safety measures and successfully carried two pistols and a knife through the safety measures.

ESPN received reports on two field tests.

"Guest safety is our top priority," a Sun spokeswoman told ESPN on Thursday. "We continue to meet and exceed safety expectations. We conduct safety tests regularly, which is the standard across the industry. We have taken these positive measures to ensure we operate at the highest level of safety and preparation."

The lawsuit said that in February 2025, the NBA conducted a safety review of the team's arena and the Suns failed to conduct a test. Trayler said the audit was surprising - the league regularly performs in the NBA arena - and did not respond to any concerns he raised or the February 2024 Test, saying the Suns failed.

Three team sources told ESPN that the team has failed several other league security audits since 2024.

Suns questioned the allegations, saying they had never failed a security audit.

Traylor filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Civil Rights Department of the Arizona Attorney General in November 2024, and he is seeking undisclosed damages.

"We have filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday and will let legal proceedings take its course," NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN.

Three more lawsuits have recently occurred for the former Suns employee alleging discrimination. All lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona.

Andrea Trischan, program manager for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program from September 2022 to September 2023, sued the team in November 2024 on allegations of harassment, racial discrimination, retaliation and wrongful dismissal. Trischan is seeking $60 million.

In March, Jason Cope, a former member of the team's debut division, sued the team, saying he was wrongly classified as an independent contractor, denied his benefits and overtime. Cope, 46, accused of age discrimination, with about six other Sun employees aged or older being transferred to contractor status, while the team hired young employees as full-time employees. Cope is seeking undisclosed damage.

In April, an anonymous former employee (identified as Jane Doe only in the lawsuit) was allegedly a former Suns executive for racial and gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. The anonymous former employee is seeking undisclosed damages.

"The common denominator is Sheree Wright. She is trying to blackmail the Suns," a Sun spokeswoman told ESPN on Thursday. "Ms Wright continues to recruit former and current employees and is manipulating them to file priceless lawsuits."

"These are not vague allegations. They are specific, detailed, and supported by evidence from witnesses, documents and evidence," Wright and Walters told ESPN in a joint statement Thursday.

Also in April, Vicente Gonzales hired a “Senior Team Member Relations Expert” in November 2024, alleged misconduct within the organization was in the Public LinkedIn Post.

Gonzales wrote in a damaged post about the team that he raised concerns about the management and leadership behavior of his employees.

“I’m silent,” Gonzalez wrote. “…I was told not to share specific negative information I received when reporting. When I tried to create a more efficient process for investigation, I didn’t get my ideas and didn’t think about my ideas. The organization has no air intake system or classification system that properly addressed the entire organization’s problems.”

After an investigation into the Suns’ investigation and allegations of former Suns boss Robert Sarver in November 2021, the organization attempted to overhaul the Suns’ lawsuit after an NBA investigation into the team’s team after an attempt to overhaul its workplace.

The NBA investigation announced its findings in September 2022. The league confirmed the ESPN report - while also describing allegations from some Sarver executives and fined Sarver $10 million while pausing him for a year.

In addition to the September 2022 penalty against Saffer, who announced later this month that he would sell the Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the league also stipulates that the Suns will be required to comply with a range of workplace standards and requirements over three years, which will cover the latest lawsuits the team faces against employees during the period.

Among them, the team is asked to report instances or allegations of “major misconduct by any employee” and the team’s efforts to resolve these incidents.

"With previous ownership, this culture faces significant challenges," a Sun spokeswoman told ESPN on Thursday. "We are proud of the work we have done to create a new culture under Mat Ishbia. We are fully compliant."

Sources previously told ESPN that Mat Ishbia is the billionaire mortgage lender, CEO of joint wholesale mortgages, bought a 57% control stake for $2.28 billion.

On February 8, 2023, the team's new owner was formally introduced at a press conference, and he met with Sun's employees.

As ESPN reported at the time, Ishbia told them, “I want to get this best place to work.” “I want great people to join in. I want to train them and coach them to be the best version of themselves and treat them so well that they never want to leave.

"…It's all about people. People are everything. It's the most important thing. Without great people, without people who care, you get nothing. So we're going to start with culture and team."