The Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway sexual harassment scandals put MLB on notice: deal with an old problem or face the consequences. The New York Mets, who employed both of the aforementioned persons in the last couple of years, recently dealt with another case of sexual misconduct.
According to The Athletic, the Mets recently dismissed Ryan Ellis, a hitting performance coordinator, after three different women reported him to the team for sexual harassment three years ago.
The Mets told The Athletic in a statement that they fired him on Jan. 22 for “violating company policy and failure to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
The publication explains that the complaints were brought up to the human resources department in 2018.
It’s baffling that the club didn’t deal with the issue back then, but they are attending the matter now.
The Mets say that “new information” led to Ellis’ dismissal
What happened is that the Mets state that the firing took place because “new information” was revealed.
The organization had employed Ellis since 2006.
The Mets statement to The Athletic reads as follows (h/t SNY):
“In July 2018, a complaint regarding inappropriate conduct by a Mets employee was brought to the attention of Mets management at that time. The organization initiated an investigation and, as a result, the employee was disciplined, put into a probationary status, and ordered into counseling. We had not received previous or subsequent complaints about this employee.â€
One of the women stated that Ellis told her “I stare at your ass all the time. If only I could have 15 minutes alone with you.”
Another woman reported to the Mets that she and Ellis were in a brief sexual relationship in 2017, but she ended. After that, she received “persistent, unwanted text messages from Ellis that were sexual in nature.”