Two former scouts in the Detroit Tigers organization are suing the team alleging age discrimination after being terminated in 2020.
According to the Associated Press, Gary Pellant and Randall Johnson filed a suit claiming a shift towards analytics including a “false stereotype” that the older scouts were not able to use them. The team, according to the lawsuit, hired younger scouts after their firings.
The claim is for wrongful termination that includes an ask for back pay, front pay and compensatory and punitive damages. The Tigers had not returned a request for comment to the AP. The lawsuit claims the team violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
“Also, Defendant was profitable both during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic,” the lawsuit claims, according to CBS News. “COVID-19 was a pretextual reason to terminate Plaintiffs’ employment.”
CBS News also reported that the lawsuit claims in 2020, 30 MLB clubs didn’t renew contracts for at least 51 of at least 83 older scouts.
“However, even since the pandemic ended and revenues returned, older Scouts like Plaintiffs are being systematically denied reemployment, including through the use of a list or lists and an agreement, pattern, practice, and effective rule to maintain lower numbers of older Scouts throughout Major League Baseball,” the lawsuit says.
