Professional snowboarder, skateboarder and Olympic gold medalist Shaun White is facing sexual harassment allegations in San Diego.
The allegations come as part of a breach of contract lawsuit brought by the former drummer of his band, Bad Things.
When the original 22-page complaint was filed in San Diego Superior Court back in May 2016, there was one line that mentioned inappropriate text messages in the breach of contract lawsuit.
The plaintiff, Lena Zawaideh, is now amending her complaint to include much more explicit details on the content of those messages.
In new court documents, Zawaideh describes how she met San Diegan and Olympic gold medalist Shaun White when she was 17-years-old.
Both of their homes had been evacuated during the 2007 wildfires. They were introduced by a mutual friend and killed time playing music, according to the complaint.
White and Zawaideh later formed a band, which toured through 2014.
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In August 2014, the band Bad Things terminated their relationship with Zawaideh, according to the complaint.
“The most egregious allegation in this complaint against Mr. White is that he was treating her almost like this thing that the band had, like an object,” said Zawaideh’s attorney, Lawrance A. Bohm.
White released the following statement about the allegations:
“Many years ago, I exchanged texts with a friend who is now using them to craft a bogus lawsuit. There is absolutely no coincidence to the timing of her claims and we will defend them vigorously in court.”
White is currently in Rio promoting the Summer Olympics.
Employment Attorney Dan Gilleon says the sexual harassment allegations could be slightly suspicious because they were not included in the original complain.
“When I first look at this, I go, ‘OK, this is a breach-of-contract case,’ ” Gilleon explained. “This is their way of saying: ‘You should have settled with this because now we’re going to embarrass you.’ ”
The sexual harassment complaint also says White became angry that Zawaideh would not cut her hair or wear more revealing clothes while performing.
Zawaideh says in court records that she never planned on making a career out of music but instead had her heart set on going to Harvard Medical School.
