In 2000, de Varona sued ABC Sports for $50 million, saying she was fired because of her sex and age. She filed the lawsuit after working at ABC for over 30 years. The suit was dropped in 2002 when ABC Sports rehired de Varona as an ABC & ESPN liaison for domestic and international sports, plus on-air work for certain events. She said "Filing was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I'd been associated with ABC since I was 14, when I was swimming, and I grew from commentator to producer to adviser to Roone Arledge", the first president of ABC Sports.