A former executive is suing the Chivas USA soccer team claiming she was the target of discrimination because she wasn't Latino and couldn't speak Spanish.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles by former human resources manager Cynthia Craig, who is black, The Torrance Daily Breeze reported.
The suit claims Craig left the Southern California team in July after repeated harassment by owner Jorge Vergara and team President Jose David because she was not Latino and didn’t speak Spanish.
She also alleges that Chivas hired four coaches from Mexico even though they were not authorized to work in the United States.
According to the Breeze, “Craig was told to add the coaches to the payroll but she refused, and team executives instead routed them money through other means.”
Vergara, Craig claims, began one of his staff meetings in Spanish and then said, in English, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, then it is time for you to get a job down the hall.”
He was referring to the Los Angeles Galaxy, a team housed at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Messages seeking comment from Chivas representatives weren't immediately returned Thursday.
It's not the first discrimination lawsuit against Chivas.
Two former youth coaches sued the Carson-based team in May, alleging they were fired because they were not Mexican or Latino.
Daniel Calichman and Theothoros Chronopoulos, who are both white, worked for more than a year for the team's academy, which provides soccer programs for youths.
Their lawsuit claims Chivas USA is trying to mirror the "Mexican-only" policy of its Guadalajara counterpart.
That suit also claimed harassment and retaliation based on ethnicity and race and seeks unspecified damages
In May, the soccer club fired coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola claiming he had "not always followed the patterns of respect and conduct implemented by Major League Soccer, as well as by Chivas USA."
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.
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