Sailing Sail Canada Denies Lisa Ross’s Claim — Issues Statement

By: LOG STAFF

On March 17 of this year, twotime Olympic sailor for Canada who had joined the national sailing team’s coaching staff, Lisa Ross, hopped on a video call with Sail Canada’s CEO, Don Adams, and High-Performance Director, Mike Milner, when she was instructed to pack her bags and return to Canada following the news that she w as terminated. Ross was in Andora, Italy, coaching Canadian sailors at the European championship when she was preparing to take off to Spain for her following competitions and training camps. This video call took place only nine days after she informed them that she was pregnant and intended to take a maternity leave.

R oss’s initial statement on May 29 read:

“On March 8, I told Sail Canada I was expecting my third child.

Nine days later, I was abruptly fired while working in Europe, halfway through a six-week training and competition block.

A t the time, I was the only female coach within the nine-member [ High-Performance] coaching staff, a group [that] had recently added two new male coaches.

I love my sport. I love representing Canada and hope to inspire the next generation of young Canadians. I love the challenge of supporting my team to reach their full potential and perform under pressure. Starting legal action to