ESPN MLB analyst Steve Phillips has reportedly been suspended for an affair with an ESPN employee.
The New York Post reports that Phillips had a brief relationship with a ESPN production assistant over the summer. After Phillips ended the relationship, the production assistant allegedly began harrassing the Phillips family — making frequent phone calls and text messages to Phillips’ wife, contacting one of his sons online, and leaving a long, detailed letter stuck in the front door of the Phillips’ home.
Both The Post and Deadspin report that Phillips has been suspended from ESPN.
This is not the first time Phillips has been involved in a high-profile extramarital situation. In 1998, Phillips took a leave of absence from his role as Mets GM “to deal with an allegation of sexual harassment as well as the repercussions of a series of extramarital affairs.”
Additionally, this is not entirely unprecedented for ESPN. In 2006, Baseball Tonight analyst Harold Reynolds was fired from ESPN for sexual harrassment. He later sued the network for wrongful termination; the case was settled in 2008. A year later, a woman sued ESPN, claiming she was fired from the network after accusing Jay Crawford and Woody Paige of sexual harrassment. The suit was tossed out in 2008. In the early 1990s, Mike Tirico was suspended for three months due to his conduct with some female ESPN employees.
Sources: New York Post, Deadspin, USA Today, New York Daily News, New York Times
