Ex-Fever Player Says Team Fired Male Employee for Sexual Harassment; Players ‘Encouraged’ to Keep Quiet

Brianna Turner alleged on social media that Indiana fired a male employee last season for sexual harassment.

Former Fever player Brianna Turner shared on her social media that the team fired a male employee last season for sexual harassment. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever have been the talk of the WNBA over the last month for unwanted reasons. Clark was on the receiving end of a flagrant foul by Alyssa Thomas in a Fever-Mercury game on June 24, and that story proceeded to get blown out of proportion in the following weeks. More recently, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham chimed in with her opinion on whether transgender athletes should compete in women’s sports.

“I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men,” Cunningham told ESPN.

In light of Cunningham’s comments, former Fever player Brianna Turner alleged on her social media that the Indiana organization fired a male employee last season for sexual harassment. Turner added that the Fever players were “encouraged to keep quiet about it.”

“To date there’s been one out trans player in the league. They caused zero problems,” Turner wrote on X. “An issue that has caused problems though? Last year on my WNBA team a male staff member was fired for sexual harassment, but we were encouraged to keep quiet about it. That is an issue. Sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and racism are all issues.”

An issue that has caused problems though? Last year on my WNBA team a male staff member was fired for sexual harassment, but we were encouraged to keep quiet about it. That is an issue. Sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and racism are all issues.

— Brianna Turner (@_Breezy_Briii) July 23, 2026

The Fever released a statement Thursday night that appeared to respond to Turner’s comments:

“Protecting our players and employees and maintaining a respectful, professional workplace is our top priority,” the statement read. “Our policy is to take concerns seriously, investigate thoroughly, and act promptly when appropriate to protect the people in our organization and ensure everyone is treated with professionalism and respect. Fostering trust and safety in that process means we do not comment on personnel matters involving former employees.”

Turner joined Indiana ahead of the 2025 campaign and played sparingly. The two-time All-Defensive forward logged 27 regular season games and eight postseason games. Turner left the Fever during the last free agency cycle to sign with the defending champ Aces this season.

Turner took to her social media to defend transgender athletes in the wake of Cunningham’s comments.

“‘Because exclusion is never the answer…trans lives matter,’” Turner wrote on X in a series of posts, resharing a video of Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve speaking about the issue of trans athletes in women’s sports. “Beautifully said. I’ve been an advocate for the trans community since I entered the WNBA. So many takes about them are based on fear mongering and bigotry.”

Here is Cunningham’s full quote from ESPN with context:

You say she's a "MAGA Barbie," as some corners of the internet have taken to calling her? Projection, she says, because of what she looks like and where she's from. She'll weigh in on how to "protect women's sports," she says, because she's in that world and feels qualified to speak to that world.

"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that,'" she says. "I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."

The topic of transgender athletes competing in sports is a controversial one that has increasingly grown more political during President Donald Trump’s second term. In February 2025, Trump issued an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” that sought to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports. The Supreme Court also recently upheld state bans in West Virginia and Idaho that prohibited transgender women and girls from competing in sports against cisgender women and girls.

“If you let men take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump said of his executive order, referring to the 1972 gender equity law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding.

“That’s why you have Title IX. That’s why you have some of the greats in women’s sports,” Cunningham said in a Fever media availability earlier this week. “If Title IX and women’s sports weren’t protected, then you wouldn’t hear about any type of women in sport. And so, I think in the future, it’s just really important to protect.”

Cunningham, who is in her second year with the Fever, clarified that her comments don’t come from a place of hatred.

“I don’t dislike anyone. I think there is room for absolutely everyone here, and I think there is room to love everyone,” continued Cunningham. “... I’m there to love, but I’m also there to love biological women, and I think that there are rights that need to be protected. And, like I said, I’m gonna stand true to that. I’ll never falter in my beliefs in that. But I have never once said that I hated the trans community. Like I said, I think there is space for everyone.”

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