Overview

• On July 3, Blue filed a federal suit in U.S. District Court in Arizona accusing the Mercury of racial and gender discrimination, pay inequity, retaliatory firing and engineered roster decisions.
• She served as interim head coach after Vanessa Nygaard’s June 2023 firing, finishing 7–21 before the team hired Nate Tibbetts in October 2023.
• The lawsuit states Blue earned $250,000 as interim coach compared with $375,000 paid to her predecessor and over $1 million to her successor.
• Blue claims the organization conducted roster moves that made the team noncompetitive to undermine her leadership.
• The Mercury have rejected the claims as meritless, with senior VP Stacey Mitch attributing Blue’s non-retention to her interim record and limited experience.