Longtime Suns employee Melissa Fender Panagiotakopoulos resigned from the team last month, alleging that she became the "target of bullying and retaliation by superiors" after raising concerns about "gender equity and misconduct within the organization," according to documents cited by Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. Panagiotakopoulos, who began working for the Suns in August '07 and most recently held the title of Senior Premium Experience Manager, sent a resignation email on May 20 to 16 members of the ownership group, including Owner Robert Sarver, "challenging them to address what she said is a toxic and misogynistic workplace culture." Her resignation came amid the NBA's "investigation into Sarver and the Suns' workplace." In her resignation email, Panagiotakopoulos wrote that she was sending it to "key stakeholders" to "make certain this group can influence positive change." She did not "specifically reference any issues with Sarver, or name any individual employee." In the email, which was also sent to the Suns' head of HR, Panagiotakopoulos offered a "list of allegations," saying that "each of these points create the culture and make up the character of our leadership." Despite the team's recent on-court success, Panagiotakopoulos wrote the organization has "never been more dysfunctional, and the culture is rapidly eroding." She also wrote that she had "previously voiced similar issues, including gender discrimination," in a memo to the team's HR department on Nov. 10 -- less than a week after ESPN's initial story was published (ESPN.com, 6/14).
