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July 27, 2025
Shine’s lawsuit alleges that MLS supervisors retaliated against him by firing him in May 2025 after he made complaints about racial discrimination.
A lawsuit against Major League Soccer was filed by Cedric Shine, a former employee of the company, on July 18. In Shine’s lawsuit, which was filed in New York’s Southern District Court, he alleges that both MLS and Soccer United Marketing retaliated against him by firing him in May 2025 after he made complaints about racial discrimination Shine experienced during his tenure as a director of cultural marketing.
According to the lawsuit, during much of the period in question, between December 2020 and his eventual firing in May 2025, Shine also served as the co-chair of MLS’ resource group for its Black employees, Pitch Black.
The lawsuit also sets forth a chain of events related to the decision to fire another Black director of marketing, one of the few in the company, Justin Cox. Per Shine’s complaint, after Cox was fired, MLS supervisors hired a white man with less experience in the marketing department than Shine in a role that the company had previously told Shine that he would get.
Shine determined that this development was, at the very least, problematic, and took his complaint directly to MLS’ Human Resources department.
After his complaint, MLS brass made the decision to hire Shine in the role anyway, disregarding the objections of his supervisors in the process, which the lawsuit indicates did not sit well with them. Shine’s lawsuit alleges that his supervisors engaged in a campaign of retaliation against him.
Shine took note of the various forms of retaliation and took his complaints to MLS’ human resources department, but nothing was done about the retaliation.
Instead of facilitating a meeting with MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson to solve these problems, the lawsuit alleges that the company both permitted and condoned the plan of Shine’s management team to fire him, which the lawsuit sets forth was a violation of his civil and human rights, under New York City Human Rights Law.
According to the lawsuit, “As a result of MLS’s conduct, Shine has suffered the adverse effects of unlawful retaliation, the quality of his life has been irreparably damaged and his self-esteem, self-respect, and well-being have been irreversibly harmed because he has been subjected to the humiliating and demeaning type of conduct described herein, all of which will continue to be a source of humiliation, distress, and financial loss to Shine.”
The lawsuit continued, “MLS acted with willful or wanton negligence, or recklessness, or a conscious disregard of Shine’s rights under, among other things, the New York City Human Rights Law, and its unlawful actions against Shine were so reckless as to amount to a disregard of Shine’s rights. Accordingly, in addition to damages inflicted upon Shine, MLS should be required to pay punitive damages as punishment for its discriminatory and retaliatory conduct to deter it and others similarly situated from engaging in such conduct in the future.”
In addition to the damages that Shine is seeking from both MLS and Soccer United Marketing, Shine is seeking a trial by jury instead of leaving the interpretation of his grievances to a judge.
Major League Soccer, meanwhile, has denied that Shine’s allegations are legitimate and has pledged to fight his lawsuit, adding that it is committed to equity and inclusion in a statement the organization issued to The New York Post.
“Shine’s allegations of retaliation have no merit and the League intends to vigorously defend the recently filed lawsuit,” MLS said before touting its commitment “to providing an equitable and inclusive environment.”
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