A discrimination lawsuit against the Phoenix Suns by a former team security employee was voluntarily dismissed Thursday with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again.
There was no settlement, according to the Suns.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2025 in U.S. District Court in Arizona by attorneys representing Gene Traylor, the Suns' former director of safety, security and risk management. Traylor, who joined the team in January 2023, cited allegations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
"As we have maintained from day one, Mr. Traylor's claims were based on lies and entirely without merit," a Suns spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN on Friday. "There was no settlement and there will be no payment to Mr. Traylor. Instead, he has now abandoned these baseless claims, dismissing them and waiving any ability to reassert them."
In a joint statement to ESPN, Traylor's attorneys Cortney Walters, Chloe Woods and Sherree Wright said, "We are bound by a confidentiality agreement with plaintiff and cannot disclose the outcome of the case or the specific terms surrounding the stipulation. What I can say is that both parties agreed to the stipulation because it was appropriate under the circumstances.
"This resolution should not be interpreted as a reflection on the merits of plaintiff's claims, but rather as a procedural step both sides determined was proper."
Traylor's lawsuit was one of seven that had been filed against the Suns since November 2024 by current or former employees. Their allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.
Traylor's lawsuit was one of the only ones filed by someone who was at the time a current employee. In it, Traylor said that one of his primary roles was to identify safety, financial and reputational risks for the Suns. In 2023, Traylor submitted a presentation for management, which was previously reviewed by ESPN, that outlined specific incidents of concern.
Traylor alleged the presentation led Suns management to retaliate against him, including having him demoted nearly a year later. He also alleged that the team discouraged him from taking protected leave after he was diagnosed with cancer.
His lawsuit stated that on Dec. 17, 2023, the Phoenix Police Department's Homeland Defense Bureau conducted a field test of the security measures at the Suns' arena during a game. Plainclothes officers attempted to enter the arena using valid game tickets while concealing weapons. Two of the officers were able to bring a knife into the arena undetected.
On Dec. 3, 2024, officers from the same department conducted another field test of the security measures and successfully brought in two handguns and one knife through security.
ESPN obtained the reports of both field tests.
Traylor's lawsuit said that in February 2025, the NBA conducted its own security audit of the team's arena, and the Suns failed that test as well. The audit, Traylor said, was a surprise -- one the league regularly performs at arenas across the NBA -- and not in response to any concerns he raised or to the February 2024 test that he said the Suns failed.
Since 2024, the team has failed multiple other league security audits, three team sources previously told ESPN.
The Suns disputed that allegation, saying they have never failed a security audit.
Traylor was terminated about two months after filing his lawsuit.
A Suns spokesperson previously told ESPN that Traylor was fired because "an independent, outside investigation concluded that he violated company policies with respect to confidential information about security operations and he was intentionally untruthful with the investigator."
The Suns trail the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-0 in a first-round playoff series entering Saturday's Game 3 in Phoenix.
