Former Mariners Employee Says She Was Mistreated And Called A Cocky Latina

The ownership entity of the Seattle Mariners baseball team is being sued by a former employee who claims she was discriminated against based on her race and gender. The plaintiff, Lorena Martin, further states in her Complaint that the organization failed to provide her with a safe working environment and engaged in retaliatory conduct.

Martin began working with the Mariners in November 2017 and was assigned the position of Director of High Performance. She reported directly to Mariners’ general manager Jerry Dipoto.

In her Complaint, Martin alleges that Dipoto and other executives substantially reduced the duties and authority of Martin’s position after she was hired. She complains that her authority to hire two critical Mental Skills professionals was removed, her complaints about lack of constructive communication with the Mariners’ director of player development were ignored, Dipoto forbade Martin from making jokes with players and much more.

A particularly inflammatory allegation that will undoubtedly receive the attention of Major League Baseball is that Dipoto and other personnel reporting to him forbade Martin from going into the dugout and that Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais was “gambling money” on pitcher Felix Hernandez’s training schedule because of his “laziness.”

The lawsuit boils down to Martin claiming that her “mistreatment” was motivated by her race and gender. She substantiates her position by referencing commentary throughout her employment that was rather derogatory toward the Latin community and females as a whole.

For instance, Martin says that Dipoto once called her a “cocky Latina” and said that Latino players “don’t work hard and are lazy and dumb.” On another occasion, Martin complains that Servais told her she could not attend clubhouse meetings because she was a woman, and that Dipoto did not care when she brought the issue to his attention.

Martin’s employment was terminated in October without notice. She was not provided any opportunity to cure an alleged breach that she says was never truly disclosed. Martin says that the termination of her employment “was nothing more than a pretext for racial and gender discrimination.”

The lawsuit was filed on December 19 in the Superior Court of the State of Washington, County of King.

In November, The Sports Biz covered another discrimination lawsuit that was filed by Nicholas M. Smith against the Golden State Warriors.