Suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka appears likely to accept a position with the Brooklyn Nets, in a move that many are saying sends a bad message to women in the workplace.
Udoka was suspended for a year for alleged “unwanted comments” and an improper relationship with a female Celtics employee.
Sports journalist Shira Springer said the potential hiring could have ripple effects. "This is a workplace. This is where women expect to be treated fairly and to be valued, and I think that one of the messages being sent is that you're not valued enough. I think that's across sports," she said on Greater Boston.
She noted numerous situations in major league sports where issues like domestic violence and sexual harassment are swept under the rug.
Nefertiti Walker, a former Division I basketball player and professor of sport management at UMass Amherst, said she's done research to learn why women are treated this way at work, especially in the sports world.
"There's a stereotype that the women that work in sport are there because they want to sleep with the athletes or the high level executives that are leading a sports teams. So when these things happen, typically people blame the woman," Walker said.
Walker added that while women are taking the blame, men are advancing their career and are awarded with large contracted.
Both Walker and Springer said more women need to work in high level positions in sports. Springer said strong players unions and male allies are also essential to addressing equity issues and preventing sexual misconduct, harassment or violence.
Watch: What’s the message from Ime Udoka's potential move to the Nets?
