Jeremy Roenick has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, NBC, for wrongful termination. The 20-year NHL veteran was a guest on Barstool’s Spittin’ Chiclets podcast last year and joked that he would like to have a threesome with his wife and NBC Sports colleague Kathryn Tappen.
NBC deemed Roenick’s comments offensive and he was terminated after initially being suspended. In his suit, Roenick claims that a gay colleague made similar comments and did not lose his job.
The colleague was figure skating analyst Johnny Weir. The suit claims that NBC Sports Executive Sam Flood told Roenick that Weir “is gay and can say whatever” when Roenick asked about some of Weir’s commentary about the bodies of figure skaters. The suit also alleges that NBC never disciplined Weir’s TV partner Tara Lipinski for using a vulgar term to describe another skater’s crotch on air.
Roenick’s suit says that he was fired for “his sex and sexual orientation.” He also alleges that his support for President Donald Trump played a role in his firing.
The Wrap asked NBC for comment. A spokesperson for NBC Sports responded “We have not seen the complaint, and we have no comment.”
He will lose because his comments were made about a female co worker so they could say that he created a hostile work place with those comments.