Ex-trainer files lawsuit after alleged pregnancy discrimination

An ex-trainer at the Sacramento Kings is claiming that they faced pregnancy discrimination.

Crystal Lee was an assistant athletic trainer for the Kings from 2022 until 2025. During her employment, she alleges that she was demoted during and after her pregnancy, according to a suit filed in California Superior Court earlier this month, per ESPN.

After she returned from maternity leave, she claims that she was not allowed to travel with the team and was later not able to treat the players. Lee says she was fired less than a month after bringing up the allegations to the Kings’ senior vice president of human resources.

Lee alleges that the Kings’ senior director of athlete health, Jaspreet Randhawa, told her that her life “is ruined after you have kids.”

“The Sacramento Kings categorically deny these allegations and reject the characterization of the organization and its workplace reflected in these claims made by a disgruntled former employee,” the Kings’ attorney, Alexis Gabrielson, said in a statement to ESPN. “The Kings take allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously and are committed to maintaining a workplace where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. The organization intends to vigorously defend against these claims through the legal process and will not comment further on the pending proceedings.”

After returning from maternity leave before the 2023-24 season, the suit claims that the Kings hired another full-time assistant athletic trainer. Lee asked head athletic trainer Joel Noland and Randhawa to work away games but claims that she was denied after the hiring of the new trainer.

In April 2025, Lee claims that she was “excluded and stripped of her athletic training responsibilities because she had a child.” The suit claims that the Kings offered to employ Lee to G League affiliate and four other professional teams.

She was later fired in May 2025 for allegedly not updating expense reports with the firing claiming, “the reason for her termination was an alleged failure to meet performance expectations.”