The story began more than a year earlier, in early 2018, when Lawrence, a former lawyer who had moved from the West Coast to Bristol, Connecticut, to participate in ESPN’s talent fellowship program, filed a federal lawsuit against the network. John Buccigross, a seasoned anchor who had been with ESPN since 1996 and was renowned for his hockey coverage and laid-back on-air demeanor, was at the center of her accusations.

The lawsuit claims that Buccigross sent Lawrence unsolicited shirtless pictures and called her “doll” and “dollface.” In some offices, this type of behavior might be dismissed with a laugh, while in others, it might go unnoticed. Lawrence made no decision.

The background of the case made it especially awkward for ESPN. The lawsuit depicted a workplace where male employees allegedly kept unofficial “scorecards” directed at female coworkers and openly viewed porn on their computers. Lawrence claimed that instead of receiving assistance when she voiced concerns internally, she was essentially shut out, denied opportunities for professional growth, and ultimately informed that her contract would not be renewed.

ESPN fiercely retaliated, claiming that the investigation disproved her allegations and that the termination of her contract was a component of a larger talent reduction that affected more than a hundred individuals. Both could have been true. It’s also possible that neither was completely.

For his part, Buccigross never discussed the case in great detail in public. The lawsuit is mentioned in passing, almost clinically, on his Wikipedia page. The man who, in a self-deprecating 2006 column, described himself as a Ray Bourque golf partner who couldn’t quite manage to three-putt on purpose—a man who obviously had a sense of humor about himself—stayed mostly silent.

It’s difficult to determine if that silence was strategic or just legal advice. On both sides of the conflict, observing the entire event from the outside, there was a sense that the institution was far more important than the individual.

On December 12, 2019, the settlement was submitted to the U.S. District Court in Connecticut, where Lawrence consented to have the lawsuit dismissed. No monetary amount was revealed.

There was no public apology. It’s still unclear if there were any changes made to internal policies or if the case was just forgotten and incorporated into ESPN’s legal history. Settlements that do not acknowledge liability have a way of doing that; they put an end to issues without fully resolving them.

What remains is the more general question the case brought up regarding how big media companies respond to grievances from those at the bottom of the hierarchy. Because she was a fellow rather than a full-time employee, Lawrence was inherently more vulnerable. Her goal when she joined ESPN was to become a legal affairs analyst. She left with a lawsuit, a settlement, and a narrative about workplace culture in sports media during the #MeToo era that was made public.

Buccigross continues to host and cover hockey for ESPN. As networks often do, the network endured. As indicated by the settlement statement, Adrienne Lawrence moved on. The terms of the sealed agreement are unknown. However, the information that did end up in the public domain, such as the texts, pictures, nicknames, and HR’s silence, doesn’t really require a verdict to make an impact.

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