Ex-minor league umpire sues MLB, says he was harassed by female ump, fired for being bisexual man
A fired minor league umpire has sued Major League Baseball, claiming he was discriminated against because he is bisexual and male
NEW YORK (AP) — A fired minor league umpire sued Major League Baseball on Wednesday, claiming he was sexually harassed by a female umpire and discriminated against because he is male and bisexual.
Brandon Cooper, an umpire who worked in the minor league Arizona Complex League last year, filed the suit in federal court in Manhattan against MLB and PDL Blue Inc., an affiliated entity.
“Historically the MLB has had a homogenous roster of umpires working in both the minor and major leagues,” the suit claimed. “Specifically, to date there has never been a woman who has worked in a (regular) season game played in the majors, and most umpires are still Caucasian men. To try to fix its gender and racial diversity issue, defendants have implemented an illegal diversity quota requiring that women be promoted regardless of merit.”
Cooper’s suit says he attended umpire training camps in 2022 and ’23 and was told by former umpire Ed Rapuano, now an umpire evaluator, and Darren Spagnardi, an umpire development supervisor, in January 2023 that MLB had to include at least two women among 10 new hires.
