LOS ANGELES — The Sacramento Kings allegedly retaliated against two former members of its dance troupe after they accused the team’s choreographer of sexual harassment, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The dancers, who filed as Jane Doe 1 and 2 in Sacramento County Superior Court, said their complaints about Matthew Day were not addressed before they were both not invited back to this season’s squad.
The Kings NBA team and Day were named as defendants by the unidentified dancers.
Doe 1 reported her claims to the team’s human resources department while Doe 2 made a complaint to dance team coach Kristina Marquez, who forwarded it to human resources, according to the lawsuit.
Doe 1 said she saw Day “inappropriately touching other dancers” and “would place his hands near or on their bottom of the dancers’ backs, near or on their buttocks.”
Day denied ever sexually harassing any dancer.
He did recall one practice when he had dancers doing a “meditative” routine.
“I walked around and I adjusted peoples’ stretches, ‘So move your foot here, push down this way,’ just like any other dance instructor would do, in any other time, in any other place,” Day said Tuesday.
“And then at some point, somehow, somebody decided that I was a threat and decided they wanted to try to weaponize that against me.”
Doe 2 said she had told Day she wasn’t interested in his offers to get her a job outside the Sacramento Kings, but he went on to send pictures of her “to a third-party promotions company without her consent,” the lawsuit said.
Day declined to say if he forwarded pictures of a dancer without her permission.
He also characterized his work with the Kings as an outside consultant rather than a choreographer.
He said the team asked him to offer advice on how to make the dance troupe a “more professional space” that would lead to more “professional opportunities” for dancers.
Both women said they were not selected for the 2023-24 squad in “retaliation for” their “complaints about” Day, the civil suit claimed.
“While we have not been served, we are aware of the recent filing. We take all allegations of harassment seriously,” the Kings said in a statement. “The organization does not comment on active litigation.”
Day said the Kings dance team has a new coach and he’s no longer involved with the troupe.
“They have the ball rolling with the new coach and she’s doing a phenomenal job,” he said.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Ron Zambrano, called the situation “an absolutely stunning case of management at the Sacramento Kings turning a blind eye to Day’s lecherous and illegal behavior.”
Day vehemently denied he made any sexual advances on dancers or acted unprofessionally on the job.
“That’s absolutely insane, that’s crazy,” he said. “I did not do anything of the sort.”
Diana Dasrath reported from Los Angeles and David K. Li from New York City.
Madelyn Urabe contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
