Whistleblower in Jackie Robinson West scandal sues Little League Baseball – Chicago Tribune
A youth sports coach in Evergreen Park has filed suit against Little League Baseball International claiming he suffered severe emotional distress after the organization dismissed his claims that the 2014 U.S. title-winning Jackie Robinson West baseball team had cheated by using ineligible players.
Chris Janes, vice president of the Evergreen Park Athletic Association Little League, said he received death threats, suffered public humiliation and feared for his life after voicing his concerns that some of the team’s players lived outside the approved league boundaries.
At the time, Little League Baseball International said it had reviewed Janes’ claims and was confident that the documentation provided by the Jackie Robinson West Little League on Chicago’s South Side met the residency requirements.
Less than two months later, however, the organization stripped Jackie Robinson West of its U.S. title, suspended its manager and placed the team on probation after finding it had “knowingly violated” league rules by using a falsified boundary map to place players on the team who lived outside its boundaries.
Janes claims in his suit, which alleges intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, that Little League Baseball International’s two-month “cover-up” — from Dec. 16, 2014 to Feb. 11, 2015 — caused him “severe emotional distress that resulted in depression, anxiety, humiliation, loss of sleep, weight loss and loss of consortium.”
He is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages from the organization.
Little League Baseball International declined comment on the suit, citing an organizational policy not to comment on pending litigation.
Janes, whose Evergreen Park team lost 43-2 to Jackie Robinson West in the sectional playoffs that year, said he became aware of possible residency issues with the team’s players after reading press reports in which various suburban communities honored and celebrated the boys as hometown heroes.
According to a league map obtained by DNAinfo.com, there are no suburbs that fall within Jackie Robinson West’s boundaries, and thus suburban players would not have been eligible to compete.
Janes said he reported these irregularities to Little League Baseball International, provided supporting documentation and asked them to investigate, but that Patrick Wilson, vice president of operations for Little League Baseball and Softball, discouraged him from bringing a complaint.
After Janes’ concerns about the residency of Jackie Robinson West’s players were aired in a local news report, he claims that Little League Baseball International set out to cover up the scandal and tried to discredit him by announcing that it “found no merit” to his claims.
It was only later, “in the face of mounting publicity that Plaintiff Janes’ claims were valid,” that the organization reversed course and censured the team, the suit claims.
In a separate suit filed earlier this year, the parents of Jackie Robinson West players also sued Little League International, alleging a cover-up.
That suit, brought in February by the team’s former coach and other team parents, claims Little League officials were aware Jackie Robinson West had put ineligible players on the roster long before they acknowledged it publicly, but ignored the problem to capitalize on the team’s success.
“Defendant Little League deliberately capitalized on the notoriety of the JRW team and the JRW Parents in order to bolster its corporate image, gain donations and otherwise profit from the unique appeal of the JRW Tournament Team,” the parents’ suit claims.
It alleges that Wilson and Central Region tournament director Nina Johnson both informed Jackie Robinson West’s coach in September and October 2014 that there were ineligible players on his roster, but took no further action against the team and did not inform parents of the discrepancies.
In the ensuing months, Little League International organized team trips to the White House, where the children took pictures with President Barack Obama, and to the Major League Baseball World Series in San Francisco.
When Janes’ allegations that the team had fielded ineligible players surfaced in December 2014, Little League International CEO Stephen Keener made public statements clearing Jackie Robinson West of wrongdoing, only to revoke the team’s title two months later.
The Jackie Robinson West parents’ suit also names former league president Bill Haley and his mother Annie Haley; Janes and the Evergreen Park Athletic Association; and ESPN and its commentator Stephen A. Smith as defendants.”
zkoeske@tribpub.com
Twitter: @ZakKoeske
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