A-Rod accuses Selig of cowardice
Revised lawsuit
NEW YORK, Nov 27, (AP): Alex Rodriguez’s lawyers have updated his lawsuit against Major League Baseball and Bud Selig, adding new criticism of the commissioner for not testifying in the union’s grievance to overturn the 211game suspension given to the New York Yankees star last summer.
The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct 3 in New York Supreme Court.
Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. The sides rested last Thursday after 12 days of sessions, and a decision on whether to uphold or alter the discipline is expected in January.
“Mr Selig chose to hide in his office in Milwaukee rather than come testify at the NBCSportsRadio’s Twitter feed.
“Sadly, this cowardly stance by Mr. Selig is consistent with his past and highly inappropriate conduct in posing, smilingly, with a young fan wearing a T-shirt with a derogatory message directed at Mr. Rodriguez,” the amended lawsuit said. “One cannot imagine the Commissioner of any other professional sport - or indeed the CEO of any business — doing something similar with respect to one of his or her players or employees.”
MLB had the suit removed to federal court, and Rodriguez’s lawyers are trying to persuade US District Judge Lorna G. Schofield to remand the case back to New York state court. A hearing is scheduled for Jan 23.
Rodriguez claimed Selig interfered with his existing contracts and prospective business relationships. MLB says the case should be heard in federal court because of provisions of the Labor Management Relations Act, known as Taft-Hartley, and intends to ask for the suit to be dismissed.
Later Tuesday, Rodriguez’s lawyers released a stack of documents, including a presentation dated Oct 21. They called a news conference for that evening with the intent to release papers, only to be blocked by an order from Horowitz. The presentation criticizes the conduct of several MLB investigators and New York City Police.