Twenty-two professional soccer players left Seattle Impact FC last week, in part because of the controversy associated with a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against their owner.
Earlier this month, six members of the “Ladies with Impact” dance team sued team owner Dion Earl as well as the team, the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL), its Commissioner Kevin Milliken, and Earl’s wife in King County Superior Court.
In a resignation letter, the players wrote that “this is not an easy decision to make as we have all made a commitment to help build this franchise and have waited so long for this opportunity. We wish to continue playing in the MASL and grow the brand in the Northwest but cannot do so as long as Dion Earl is a part of this organization.”
They added: “There is a certain level of integrity and professionalism that we, as players, take very seriously. We feel that with the daily chaos, firing of our coaches, firing of staff, release of the dance team, poor treatment of players and the polluted media surrounding Dion’s sexual assault, bullying, and harassment charges, our reputations are being tarnished and compromised.”
Of course, the damage to the players would pale to the damage caused to the cheerleaders if the allegations in the complaint — that Earl sexually assaulted two members of the dance team and then fired them after his conduct was exposed — are true.
“Dion Earl’s behavior toward me and other members of the dance team went way beyond being inappropriate,” said Elizabeth Buslon, a former dance team member who obtained a Sexual Assault Protection Order prior to the lawsuit against Earl. “What happened to me was terrifying and abusive. He took advantage of his position as team owner to plan an attack, and then he tried to cover it up. The league did nothing to help.”
The 42-page complaint suggested that Earl “was obsessed with creating a ‘dance team’ of young and attractive women. He was more passionate about luring ‘smoking hot’ dancers than he was about a soccer team.”
The lawsuit continued: “Acting as owner and chief executive officer, Earl pushed the dancers to purchase skimpy outfits he personally selected from ‘Stripper Boutique,’ and he invited a dancer to his home for private modeling. Earl then escalated his aggressive sexual conduct and requested ‘massages’ in late-night text messages, and he barraged female employees with unrelenting sexual innuendo and overtures.”
The plaintiffs also charged that MASL knew that Earl posed a danger to young women when it gave him a team. The suit claims that Earl is listed in a published database of “Coaches Who Prey,” stemming from an incident involving an underage cheerleader, and that Earl’s lengthy legal history shows him to be a danger. The suit also claims that MASL nevertheless placed Earl into a position of power as a team owner, which allowed Earl to prey on the plaintiff.
The plaintiffs are represented by Donald W. Heyrich of HKM Employment Attorneys, who was very critical of the league. “How on earth could a national professional sports league disregard Earl’s past and give him a position of power and direct contact with young women,” he asked. “Our clients are suffering because MASL ignored obvious harm and placed profits above the safety of women.”
The complaint can be found at https://hkm.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014.11.06-Buslon-et-al-v-Seattle-Impact-and-MASL-et-al-Complaint.pdf
