A former assistant athletic trainer for the Sacramento Kings has filed an explosive lawsuit against the NBA franchise, alleging pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
Crystal Lee, who worked for the Kings from 2022 until 2025, filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court, claiming she was demoted during and after her pregnancy.
According to court documents obtained by ESPN, Lee alleges Jaspreet Randhawa, the Kings’ senior director of athlete health, told her: ‘You’re f***ed,’ after learning she was pregnant in early 2023.
Randhawa also allegedly told Lee that her life ‘is ruined after you have kids,’ while fostering a toxic workplace culture where staff were made to feel uncommitted if not working around the clock.
Lee claims the Kings restricted her role during her second trimester in February 2023 by barring her from road games, before formally demoting her to an administrative role two months later.
Though told the change was temporary, Lee asserts that after returning from maternity leave, the Kings hired another full-time trainer, kept her off the road, and ignored her requests to work away games.
A former assistant athletic trainer for the Sacramento Kings has filed an explosive lawsuit against the NBA franchise, alleging pregnancy discrimination among a number of things
Crystal Lee, who worked for the Kings from 2022 until 2025, filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court
In September 2024, the team demoted Lee again by stripping ‘assistant athletic trainer’ from her title entirely, effectively preventing her from treating Kings players or fulfilling her trained duties.
The filing also highlights negative interactions Lee claims to have had with current head coach Doug Christie during his tenure as an assistant coach, though Christie is not named as a defendant.
When Lee raised concerns in April 2025 about being excluded due to having a child, executives offered to help her find training spots with other pro teams or their G League affiliate instead.
During a May 2025 meeting with general manager Scott Perry, who is also not named as a defendant, Lee alleges Perry explicitly told her that ‘complainers will not be tolerated’ within the franchise.
Lee formally reported her grievances to Kings’ vice president of human resources Stacy Wegzyn the following week, according to the suit.
The following month, the suit alleges, Perry and Wegzyn fired Lee. The alleged reason provided was that she ‘failed to meet performance expectations,’ such as not updating expense reports.
The Sacramento Kings have denied all allegations put forward by Lee
The Kings have denied all allegations put forward by Lee. In a statement to ESPN, the Kings’ attorney Alexis Gabrielson said: ‘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 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.’
Lee’s attorney Robert King, meanwhile, told ESPN: ‘We have made prior efforts to resolve this matter with the Kings that were unsuccessful.
‘We did attend a mediation with the Kings in an effort to resolve this.’
