Yeh, I know, it's not really the nicest thing I could say about a lawsuit filed by Leigh Castergine, former ticketing executive with the New York Mets, claiming that the Mets, chiefly, their Chief Operating Officer, Jeff (Mandar) Wilpon, harassed Castergine about being pregnant and unmarried and then fired her after her child was born.
But as a bitter fan, who's seen them use the Madoff scandal -- which some reports indicate Sterling LP, which owns the Mets, actually profited from -- as an excuse not to put more money into the team, I hope I can get a little slack.
The allegations are pretty crappy, as if Mandar is still living in the age of Victoria. Castergine alleges that Wilpon humiliated her at more than one meeting about her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and that when she went to the Mets' HR department (that's Human Resources, not Home Runs; the Mets don't really use the latter anymore) to complain, she was fired. This after having received multiple bonuses for her excellent work at creating innovative ticketing plans to keep the suckers -- Met fans -- coming through the turnstiles. (The suit mentions that some people compared her job to "selling tickets to a funeral.") Indeed, Castergine claims that Wilpon told her that she could get even bigger bonuses if she got married.
If the suit's allegations are true -- and since it cites a board meeting where some of Mandar's demeaning remarks were made, it'll be pretty simple to depose the others in attendance and get at the truth -- then it obviously makes the Mets COO appear like a moralistic jerk (instead of, you know, just a jerk).
The Mets' public statement on this is that the suit "has no merit." They didn't say that the allegations are false, just "without merit." It's worth noting that Castergine refused to accept a severance package because it was offered on the the condition that she not sue the Mets, or Mandar individually.
This story could be interesting because sports organizations remain male-dominated, and while there are more women in executive positions than ever before, sexist bullshit still happens. (Would the NFL's take on the Ray Rice incident been as awful as it's been had their been any female executives or owners involved?)
It could also be interesting because I am envisioning yet another War on Women/War on Religious Freedom debate going on: "Hey, it's HIS business and he has the right to set policies with HIS (or should I say His) moral standards, and if this suit goes against him it's a blow to Religious Freedom!"
But then I remember, it's just the Mets. Maybe if it were the Yankees someone would care.
As a Met fan, the only hope I see is that these allegations are true, she takes the Wilpons to the cleaners and they have to sell the team. (Could we persuade the court, if it rules in her favor, to force them to actually spend money on the product on the field instead of putting out a minor-league-to-quadruple-A team at best?)
By the way, the Mets first owner, Mrs. Joan Payson, was the first woman to own a controlling stake in a major North American sports franchise, when the Mets were formed in 1962. I wonder if she'd have treated an executive who'd been so good at selling tickets to the funeral.
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