Angel Hernandez is making some shocking claims this week against Major League Baseball.
The MLB umpire said the league “was manipulating the performance” of umpires of color “to make their performances look worse” in a filing with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.
From the lawsuit:
“The District Court also failed to give appropriate weight to evidence of MLB’s disparate treatment of Mr. Hernandez, including evidence that MLB was manipulating the performance of Mr. Hernandez and other minority umpires to make their performances look worse.”
Hernandez sued Major League Baseball for discrimination in 2017, arguing the league had a history of discriminating against people of color within its umpiring ranks. However, federal Judge J. Paul Oetken dismissed the case in 2021, but Hernandez is now appealing to a higher court.
“[A] review of Mr. Hernandez’s Year-End Evaluations and his UERs [umpire evaluation reports] for the years 2011-2016 reveals that MLB manipulated Mr. Hernandez’s year-end evaluations in order to make his job performance appear worse than it actually was,” the filing said. “Mr. Hernandez’s Year-End Evaluations for the 2011-2016 seasons do not even come close to accurately summarizing Mr. Hernandez’s actual performance in those seasons.”
Major League Baseball has previously denied his claims of discrimination.
“Hernandez has not demonstrated the leadership ability and situation management skills in critical, high-pressure roles on a consistent basis,” former MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre said in a deposition.
The next steps of this appeal will include MLB filing a response before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals either rules or schedules an oral argument.
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