Judge Rules On Umpire's Lawsuit Against Major League Baseball
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 17: Umpires review a fan interference call in the first inning during Game Four of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on October 17, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
In 2017, Cuba-born umpire Angel Hernández sued the MLB in the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. It took several years for this case to come to an end, but Hernandez has finally received a ruling on his lawsuit.
Hernández accused the MLB of racial discrimination because he has not been assigned to a World Series crew since the 2005 season. He also voiced his frustration about being passed over for a crew chief position.
Despite his claims, Hernández has lost his lawsuit against the MLB alleging racial discrimination.
"The court concludes that no reasonable juror could find that MLB’s stated explanation is a pretext for discriminatory motive," U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken said, via the Associated Press.
Oetken pointed out that Alfonso Márquez was part of the 2011 and 2015 World Series crews, which is a promotion that "would not have been made were MLB discriminating on the basis of race or national identity."
Hernández stated that he felt Joe Torre, the MLB's former chief baseball officer, refused to promote him because of bad blood dating back to 2001.
Of course, Oetken wasn't going to let these claims from Hernández slide without commenting on them.
"Hernández’s handful of cherry-picked examples does not reliably establish any systematic effort on MLB’s part to artificially deflate Hernández’s evaluations, much less an effort to do so in order to cover up discrimination. The evidence shows beyond genuine dispute that an umpire’s leadership and situation management carried the day in MLB’s promotion decisions."
