The new owners of San Diego Wave FC are suing the team's former president, Jill Ellis, alleging that she lied about staying with the team during sales negotiations last year, then promptly announced her resignation after the sale was complete, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
In the suit, filed Sept. 29 in San Diego Superior Court, billionaire couple Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, through LLFO Sports Holdings, LLC, allege Ellis willfully made "promises, guarantees, and assurances" during negotiations "with the intent to deceive and defraud" them.
Douglas Silverstein, an attorney for Ellis, said the suit was "meritless" and was a retaliation for Ellis asking the owners to pay her more than $1.2 million in deferred pay, allegedly as part of her previous contract with the team.
"Ms. Ellis attempted in good faith to work out these financial matters directly with the owners, but she was rebuffed," he said in a statement. "Ms. Ellis was then forced to retain counsel, who last week requested in writing that she be paid. This lawsuit is a direct result of that written demand.”
According to the demand letter, Ellis had a 5-year contract with the team that included $250,000 a year in deferred compensation to be paid upon her departure from the team. The letter states that she is owed $1 million — after four years with the team — plus a waiting time fee of $132,692.31, as the deferred compensation was not paid within 30 days of her departure, and $103,649.11 in interest.
According to the suit, Ellis leveraged her long-standing friendship with the couple to get them to follow through with the purchase. Ellis apparently befriended Leichtman and Levine during her time as head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles women's soccer team. The pair was a supporter of the UCLA women's athletics program, according to the suit.
During negotiations, according to the complaint, Ellis promised to remain an integral part of Wave FC, including serving as president of the club. According to the suit, Ellis was "a material reason" that the pair bought the team, and they expected her to remain and guide the team for many years to come.
The sale was completed on Oct. 9, 2024, and two days later, Ellis announced her resignation, the suit alleges. On Dec. 3, 2024, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) publicly announced Ellis as its Chief Football Officer.
The owners allege that Ellis was talking to FIFA during the sale negotiations. The suit alleges that this led to a loss of $40 million in the team's total value. In the 2024 season, the Wave slipped to 10th place in the league, a far cry from its first-place finish in 2023.
The owners are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys' fees.
This isn't the first legal battle Ellis has faced related to the team. In 2024, Ellis sued a former team employee for defamation following allegations of a hostile work environment. Later that year, five former employees sued Wave FC and the National Women's Soccer League because they failed to act on complaints about a toxic workplace culture during Ellis' tenure — though the lawsuit doesn't name Ellis.
