Wave's Jill Ellis files defamation suit against ex-employee - ESPN

San Diego Wave FC president and former United States women's national team coach Jill Ellis has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former Wave employee who recently accused Ellis of creating a toxic work environment.

The lawsuit, which was filed in San Diego County Court on Monday, alleges that Brittany Alvarado, the team's former video and creative manager, made false and defamatory statements about Ellis in recent posts on her social media accounts. The lawsuit further claims that those statements were supported by a fake email, an allegation that the Wave organization made in its public denial of the accusations earlier this month.

In her social media posts July 3, Alvarado alleged that Ellis' treatment of her and former colleagues «has been nothing short of life-altering and devastating to our mental health» and alleged that Ellis «foster[ed] an environment where abusive behaviors among her subordinates are allowed to flourish.»

Alvarado posted a follow-up screenshot of a redacted email titled «Pathetic,» which Alvarado said she received from «a senior leadership member» at Wave FC.

The lawsuit alleges that two other emails were sent on the same day from a «fake and unofficial Hotmail account» that purported to be Wave FC vice president of marketing and PR Justyne Freud. One of those emails, the lawsuit alleges, was sent to NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman (and copied the league's head of human resources) to state that Freud was resigning because she could no longer tolerate Ellis. The disputed email was allegedly sent June 17; Freud remains employed by the Wave.

Ellis' lawsuit also alleges that what is «believed to be a burner phone» was used to send a text message to a Wave player making «false, incendiary, and