PORTLAND, Ore. — DaBella Exterior is suing the Portland Timbers and CEO Heather Davis for defamation and breach of contract after the club dropped the company as the kit sponsor in February.
The Timbers quickly dropped DaBella, a home improvement contractor in Hillsboro, as a sponsor when a former executive accused the company’s CEO, Donnie McMillan Jr., of unwanted advances and sexual harassment of at least three female employees.
The sponsorship was a multi-year deal that included prominently displaying DaBella’s logo on Timber’s jerseys and throughout Providence Park.
In the lawsuit, DeBella alleges that the club and Davis acted on “unsubstantiated falsehoods” and “baseless allegations” surrounding the allegations against McMillan. That in turn, “inflicted severe and irreparable harm” to both DaBella and McMillan and “unjustly tarnished their reputations.”
The news of the sexual abuse allegations of the DaBella’s CEO follows a series of scandals and events stemming from a U.S. Soccer Federation investigation that found former Thorns coach Paul Riley had sexually coerced and harassed players. In the aftermath, Timber ownership, Peregrine Sports LLC, sold the Thorns, several key staffers stepped down and the club lost its long-time sponsor Alaska Airlines.
According to the court documents, the Timbers were made aware of the allegations against McMillan after a reporter from The Oregonian reached out to the club for comment. The next day, Davis sent a letter to McMillan informing him that the Timbers plan to terminate their sponsorship deal. Soon after, the club publicly announced that the sponsorship had been terminated.
In the lawsuit, DaBella claims the allegations against McMillan are untrue and were made by a "disgruntled" former employee.
"Had the Timbers shared the Club statement with DaBella prior to its publication, as they were required...they would have learned the claims...were meritless," the lawsuit said. "But they did not."
DaBella said the Timbers have "unjustly retained" a total of $1.8 million that the company paid in late 2023 and early 2024 for the sponsorship deal. In total, DaBella claims that the sponsorship deal would've generated at least $75.3 million in revenue. An amount that company alleges wouldn't and couldn't be obtained in the "same or equivalent type of sponsorship with a professional sports teams" due to "its now diminished reputation."
As a result, DaBella is seeking at least $75 million in damages.
Earlier this month, the Timbers unveiled that the Oregon-based, farmer-owned dairy cooperative Tillamook as the new front of jersey sponsor. Tillamook made its debut on the Timbers kit in the match against the Seattle Sounders on May 12.
