Ex-LA Sparks GM Penny Toler filed wrongful termination lawsuit against team

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Let Penny Toler tell it, there are some shady shenanigans afoot inside the WNBA’s LA Sparks organization.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the former Sparks general manager of 20 years has filed a lawsuit claiming that she was fired last October because she dared to call out the inappropriate sexual relationships that were affecting the workplace. Specifically, the relationship between team president Christine Simmons and managing partner and governor Eric Holoman.

Simmons left the team in 2018 but Toler says she still had influence over internal decisions because she boinking ol’ boy. Toler says she was in the process of trading a player but was stopped because Simmons was close with said player.

Toler also put former coach Brian Agler on blast for having sex with a player and described him as a sexual predator and verbal abuser. She told management about the affair and she claims nothing was done to punish Agler.

“[Agler’s] sexually predatory conduct caused certain Sparks players to complain that he made then uncomfortable and compelled other Sparks players to leave the team altogether,” Toler said, via the Associated Press.

All that said, there are always two sides to every story and for the Sparks part they say that Toler was fired on October 4, 2019 because she went on a profane post-game rant and called her players the n-word. Toler adamantly denies that accusation.

“By no means did I call my players the ‘N-word,’” Toler said in October. “I’m not saying that I couldn’t have used it in a context. But it wasn’t directed at any of my players.

“It’s unfortunate I used that word. I shouldn’t. Nobody should … But you know, like I said, I’m not here to defend word by word by word what I said. I know some of the words that I’m being accused of are embellished. Did I give a speech that I hoped would get our team going? Yes.

“I think that this whole conversation has been taken out of context because when we lose, emotions are running high and, unfortunately and obviously, some people feel some type of way.”

So, she said it but she didn’t use it to describe one of her players. It was also said that she used the big scary word “motherf**kers”.

“It looks like she was singled out and treated differently because she was a woman,” said Toler’s lawyer, Dawn Collins, via the Associated Press. “Coaches speak to their players to get them fired up, many coaches use harsher language and far more controversial language. If the term is not OK, it’s not OK for everyone.”