Mets hire firm to look into workplace culture

Steve Cohen, once again lording over a workplace prominently accused of having a sexist culture, has once again hired white-shoe law firm WilmerHale to perform an internal investigation.

This time, it is the Mets under investigation.

The investigation, which was internally announced 10 days ago, was reported by The Athletic on Monday.

Wilpon era-hires Mickey Callaway and Ryan Ellis were suspended and fired, respectively, earlier this year after allegations of sexual harassment. Callaway, the team’s manager from 2018-19, was accused of harassing reporters who covered him in New York, Cleveland and Anaheim. He’s currently suspended from his role as Angels pitching coach. Ellis, a team employee since 2006 who had risen to minor-league hitting coordinator, was fired in 2021 in wake of harassment accusations that were first brought to Mets brass in 2018.

But the stink is not exclusively on the Wilpons. Perhaps the most egregious Mets failure, the hiring of general manager Jared Porter, happened on Cohen’s watch. (Not to mention the fact that Cohen’s handpicked team president, Sandy Alderson, was a Wilpon lieutenant who hired and presided over Callaway.)

Porter was fired after a month, when a ESPN reported that he had sexually harassed a reporter in 2016.

And Cohen businesses have been sued for sexual harassment and discrimination before.

In early 2018, Lauren Bonner sued Cohen’s hedge fund, Point72, for underpaying women and creating a sexist workplace. Point72 settled the lawsuit in September 2020, weeks before Cohen completed his purchase of the Mets.

In March 2018, the New York Times reported that Cohen hired WilmerHale “to conduct an independent assessment and provide legal advice that will help to improve the firm’s policies and procedures, strengthen its culture and foster best practices” at Point72.

This month, The Athletic reported that Cohen hired WilmerHale to investigate “policies, procedures and practices” and review “workplace culture … with a focus on sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination issues” with the Mets.