Umpire loses appeal of discrimination lawsuit against MLB

Angel Hernandez unsuccessfully sued Major League Baseball several years ago for discrimination, and the longtime umpire has lost another appeal in the case.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Tuesday rejected Hernandez’s attempt to revive the lawsuit with a 3-0 decision, according to Reuters.

In his original suit, Hernandez accused MLB of racial discrimination with the league’s promotion practices. Hernandez claimed he was discriminated against by MLB officials because he was passed over five times for crew chief between 2011 and 2018 and has not umpired a World Series since 2005.

The court ruled on Tuesday that though there is a “bottom-line imbalance” between white and minority crew chiefs, Hernandez failed to prove that there is a statistically significant disparity in promotion rates. A March 2021 dismissal of the lawsuit from U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken was upheld. Oetken said in his ruling that Hernandez did not show he was significantly more qualified than less senior umpires who were awarded more sought-after assignments.

Hernandez first filed the lawsuit in 2017. One of the claims he made was that former MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre had a “history of animosity” toward Hernandez from when Torre managed the New York Yankees.

Torre and MLB had cited Hernandez’s “overly confrontational style” as a reason he was not promoted more, among other factors.

Hernandez has been an MLB umpire since 1993. The 61-year-old is consistently regarded as one of the league’s worst umpires. He recently returned to work from a back injury and has picked up right where he left off blowing calls.