Wave: Owners Sue Jill Ellis for Deception After Leaving the Club

Scandal in Women’s Soccer: San Diego Wave Owners Sue Jill Ellis

The situation within the San Diego Wave women’s soccer team is becoming complicated. The club’s owners have filed a lawsuit against the former team president, Jill Ellis, alleging that she deceived them with false promises. According to the lawsuit, Ellis allegedly assured that he would remain on the team after the sale, but resigned two days after the deal was completed. Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, owners of the team and partners at the private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, are seeking an unspecified indemnity for alleged misrepresentation, concealment, and false promises. The lawsuit will be decided by a jury.

The lawsuit is “baseless” and retaliation for Ellis’ request for deferred compensation.

Jill Ellis’s Lawyer

Jill Ellis, recognized for being a two-time World Cup champion with the United States women’s national team, was the first president of the San Diego Wave, an NWSL expansion team in 2022. Leichtman and Levine purchased the Wave from Ron Burkle in 2024, in a sale valued between $113 and $120 million. In the lawsuit, they claim that Ellis’s presence was a key factor in the purchase of the club, relying on his promises to lead the team for many years. Under Ellis’s presidency, the Wave became the first NWSL team to reach the playoffs in its expansion season (2022) and won the NWSL Shield the following year. The lawsuit was filed in the California Superior Court in San Diego on Monday. According to the lawsuit, Ellis informed the plaintiffs of her resignation as president of San Diego Wave FC two days after the completion of the team’s sale in October 2024. Ellis left the position to take on the role of FIFA’s director of football, which FIFA announced in December 2024.

Jill Ellis left her position as president of the San Diego Wave team in 2024.The plaintiffs allege that Ellis never intended to continue with Wave FC after initiating negotiations to join FIFA, which makes his promises a false representation. The lawsuit does not specify whether those promises were written or contractual. The plaintiffs allege that Ellis’s negotiations with FIFA negatively affected the team’s performance in 2024, with a tenth-place finish and three different coaches, in addition to economic losses expected for 2025. The lawsuit estimates that the revenue losses “amount to at least 40 million dollars in business value”, although the exact amount of damages is not specified. Leichtman and Levine, through their company, request a jury trial to determine damages. The lawsuit mentions other unidentified defendants who allegedly participated in the false promises that, according to the plaintiffs, helped to “induce” the plaintiffs to proceed with the purchase. Leichtman and Levine met Ellis when she was the coach of the UCLA women’s soccer team, which won an NCAA championship in 2013. Leichtman and Levine are frequent donors to UCLA women’s sports and, according to the lawsuit, provided financial support to the women’s soccer team. They traveled with Ellis to the 2013 College Cup, according to the lawsuit. According to a letter from Ellis’s lawyers sent to the Wave’s owners, Ellis signed a five-year contract in December 2021 that paid him $1 million in his first year, with subsequent increases. The agreement also included deferred annual payments of $250,000 to be paid after he left the club. Ellis has claimed that he is owed more than $1.23 million in deferred payments and penalties. Douglas Silverstein, Ellis’s attorney, stated that this lawsuit is retaliation for demanding that the current owners of the San Diego Wave FC pay the deferred compensation owed to her under her employment contract and California wage laws. Silverstein added that Ellis attempted to resolve these financial matters directly with the owners, but was unsuccessful, so she was forced to hire an attorney. The plaintiffs’ lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the San Diego Wave issued a statement: “This is a legal matter between the Levine Leichtman family office and Jill Ellis. The San Diego Wave FC is not a party to this lawsuit. Our focus as a club remains on our players, our fans, and the community as we continue to build an exciting future for women’s soccer in San Diego.”

Monday’s lawsuit is at least the third litigation related to the Wave and Ellis’s mandate.

Last year, Ellis filed a defamation lawsuit against former team employee Brittany Alvarado, after Alvarado posted a message on her social media alleging a toxic work environment at the Wave and that Ellis “fostered an environment where abusive behaviors are allowed to flourish among her subordinates.” Later in 2024, Alvarado joined four other employees in suing Wave and NWSL, alleging multiple forms of discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. A sixth plaintiff, a second Jane Doe who alleged she had suffered sexual harassment while at the club, joined the lawsuit in early 2025. Ellis was not named in that lawsuit. In a July filing, the NWSL argued that it had “no duty of care” towards the six women suing the club and the league.