Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Former Chicago White Sox athletic
trainer Brian Ball filed a lawsuit against the MLB franchise on
Tuesday alleging his employment was terminated in October 2020
because of discrimination against his sexual orientation, age and
disability.
The Athletic reported the civil suit
alleges the White Sox violated the Illinois Human Rights Act and have
caused Ball to suffer from severe mental anguish and emotional
distress. He’s seeking punitive and monetary damages. The club has
denied the allegations.
“It is extremely disappointing
that a former colleague, who was supported, developed and promoted
over two decades, chose to attack the club in this way,” the
team said. “It is also surprising to many who know Brian, and
supported him throughout his career, to read the allegations included
in his lawsuit.”
The lawsuit states Ball, a 20-year
employee of the White Sox, is gay and that it became known to “multiple
members” of the organization in February 2018, per The Athletic.
In December 2018, he was promoted to
head athletic trainer following the retirement Herm Schneider. He
signed a two-year contract extension in October 2019.
The lawsuit notes the club shifted him
to a new role, director for the care of players, in February 2020 and urged him to take a leave of absence after being attacked during a carjacking in July
2020.
Ball alleges that, while he was away from the
team, general manager Rick Hahn suggested to other members of the
staff the trainer “had either a gambling, alcohol or drug
addiction that was related to the July carjacking,” according to
The Athletic.
“None of those accusations were or
are true,” Ball’s lawsuit states.
Ball said the club denied him an opportunity to return after recovering from the attack, and he added that he heard from someone in the
organization two months after his termination the decision was based
on his sexual orientation.
The White Sox said he was fired “based
on his performance,” per The Athletic.
Chicago then promoted James Kruk to head
athletic trainer. He’d served as an assistant
to Ball for the previous two years (2019-20).
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