Adrienne Lawrence, the former anchor and analyst at ESPN, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit yesterday in the United States District Court of Connecticut against her former employer. The lawsuit also names Raw announcer Jonathan Coachman, although he is not getting sued personally.
In page 32 out of the 93-page lawsuit, Lawrence claims that on or around January 18, 2016, SportsCenter anchor Jonathan Coachman e-mailed her offering to provide her with mentorship and providing his cellphone number.
“When he contacted her via text, he quickly turned a professional conversation into a personal matter, asking her about her musical interests. He was employing the ESPN predators’ playbook,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit adds that her colleagues cautioned her that Coachman was “notorious for sexually harassing female employees” and after that, she told Coachman that she had a boyfriend. The Coach allegedly made no contact with her ever again and made no further offers of mentorship.
“Coachman’s reputation for making unwelcome sexual advances toward women and engaging in other sexually harassing behavior was not a secret. Cary Chow had warned Ms. Lawrence about him when he gave the short list of men at ESPN who were notorious for sexual harassment. Coachman had sent Walsh inappropriate photos of himself and text messages, falsely telling her colleagues that they were romantically involved and that she ‘wanted’ him – another common practice of men at ESPN,” the lawsuit continues.
One young production assistant also told Lawrence that Coach made her feel uncomfortable by complimenting her physical appearance and making passes at her.
