Adrienne Lawrence, an attorney, teacher and former legal analyst and sports anchor at ESPN Inc., has sued the Bristol, Connecticut-based network for sexual harassment.

The suit, filed Sunday in a federal court in Connecticut, accuses ESPN of failing to address her highly publicized complaints of harassment and abuse against current SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross, who has been employed by the network since 1996.

Lawrence claims that soon after she arrived at ESPN in August 2015, she was merely “fresh meat” and was soon being harassed by Buccigross. Lawrence, whose profile on professional networking website LinkedIn states that she once worked as an associate at Greenberg Traurig in Los Angeles and Arent Fox and McGuireWoods in Washington, D.C., claims that she was fired in August 2017 for complaining about the alleged abuse.

The suit by Lawrence comes amid a series of allegations against many powerful celebrities and broadcasters and the #MeToo movement urging corporate leaders to listen to the voices of alleged victims. Her filing against ESPN came the same day that the Academy Awards put a spotlight on sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.

Now living in California and working as an anchor at Madden NFL, Lawrence claims in her suit that ESPN personalities have “a long history of sexually harassing and mistreating women that is well documented and incontrovertible.”

Lawrence said she left a successful legal career to join The Walt Disney Co.-owned ESPN through its competitive “ESPN the Fellowship” program, a recruiting initiative designed to hire and retain diverse candidates.

Prior to joining ESPN, Lawrence was employed at McGuireWoods for about a year ending in early 2012 and Greenberg Traurig, where she worked from September 2012 to July 2015. Arent Fox employed Lawrence as a litigation associate from 2009 to early 2011, according to her LinkedIn profile, and she previously clerked for Judge Eric T. Washington at the D.C. Court of Appeals. Lawrence also taught criminal and tort law at Strayer University in Herndon, Virginia.

An early bloomer academically, Lawrence graduated high school at age 16, earning her undergraduate degree in criminal justice at 19 from California State University, Sacramento. She earned her master's in criminal justice from the City University of New York's John Jay College in 2005 and three years later received her law degree from The George Washington University Law School at 24. She also subsequently completed a specialized journalism master's program at CSU.

Lawrence's suit against ESPN contains detailed allegations of her relationship with Buccigross, some of which were mentioned in a Boston Globe story from December that chronicled the experiences of several women employed by the network.

“After reaching out to her with the promise of mentorship, Buccigross exploited his position of authority over her by calling her 'doll' and coercing her to join him for dinner given his limited availability,” states Lawrence's complaint, adding that the anchor “tried to groom” Lawrence into a romantic relationship by garnering sympathy by divulging his own history as an alleged victim of sexual abuse.

The suit cites nine causes of action, including sexual discrimination and harassment, negligent supervision, creating a hostile work environment, aiding and abetting and retaliation.

In an emailed statement, Lawrence's lawyers Brian Cohen of Lachtman Cohen and Russell Yankwitt of White Plains, New York-based Yankwitt LLP, wrote, in part: “We are proud to represent Adrienne Lawrence in this important lawsuit that sends a clear message to ESPN that is can no longer turn a blind eye to sexual harassment and retaliate when women like Ms. Lawrence stand up for themselves and assert their rights to work in a safe environment and be free from discrimination.

Cohen said ESPN “will finally be held accountable for its culture where women are routinely humiliated, degraded, and marginalized.”

Buccigross and ESPN, whose chief in-house counsel is Diane Morse, did not respond to requests for comment.

The suit by Lawrence comes almost two weeks after former Morrison & Foerster associate Terdema Ussery II, a longtime CEO of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, was accused of sexual misconduct by several former team employees. He has denied the allegations.