Former scouts sue Detroit Tigers over alleged age discrimination
(CBS DETROIT) - Former senior scouts have filed a lawsuit accusing the Detroit Tigers of firing them and replacing them with younger scouts.
Gary Pellant, 68, of Chandler, Arizona, and Randall Johnson, 67, of Valley Center, California, the plaintiffs in the case, were two of at least four scouts over 60 fired by the Tigers on Oct. 31, 2020.
According to the lawsuit, the remaining scouts ranged from their early 20s to their early 50s.
The Tigers claimed the scouts were terminated due to the financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Tigers did not request a PPP loan that would have provided federal funds to retain employees, according to the lawsuit.
"Also, Defendant was profitable both during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic," the lawsuit claims. "COVID-19 was a pretextual reason to terminate Plaintiffs' employment."
The lawsuit claims that in 2020, 30 MLB clubs didn't renew contracts for at least 51 of at least 83 older scouts.
After the pandemic was over, the lawsuit says the Tigers refused to reemploy the former 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.
In addition, Major League Baseball started an initiative to primarily rely on technology for scouting, which led the organization to focus on hiring younger scouts and pushing out older scouts due to the stereotype that older scouts didn't know how to use analytics or take part in video scouting, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims the Tigers violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for lost wages and the loss of retirement benefits, along with front pay, as the suit claims that the reinstatement of Pellant and Johnson in their previous positions is impractical.