More workplace behavior issues come to surface
Mets exec described as a ‘creep’
The Mets’ workplace environment is under further scrutiny after a new report, published Friday by The Athletic, which details additional accounts of inappropriate behavior that were ignored by team management and the HR department.
The alleged behavior prompted new majority owner Steve Cohen to hire a law firm in March to conduct an external review that will focus on “sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination issues,” which many current and former employees told The Athletic is “long overdue.”
Seven employees, both male and female, told the website that Mets chief marketing, content and communication officer
David Newman made inappropriate comments to female employees during his first stint with the team from 2005-18 — including an instance that resulted in a woman suing the team for discrimination based on her pregnancy.
When word spread there were plans to bring Newman back to the organization in November 2020, two female employees warned Mets president Sandy Alderson about his past behavior. Alderson rehired him anyway.
“I said, ‘How can you take David Newman back? He’s a creep,’ ” one of the women told The Athletic of her interaction with Alderson.
Past and current employees told The Athletic that Newman routinely made inappropriate remarks about women’s appearances. He’s also accused of being insensitive toward pregnant women within the organization and of citing one woman’s decision to have children as the reason for changes in her performance. This included an alleged incident in which a woman told him an assignment would be difficult to complete because of her need for a space to pump breast milk and he said to “figure it out.”
“Virtually everything you have here is untrue,” Newman told The Athletic. “As part of a routine annual performance review I actually spoke highly of the employee and the employee’s capabilities, but I did note that the person was not performing to the usual high standards that the employee previously showed, and the high standards of the group.”
Newman was not the only one accused of questionable behavior.
At least two women who worked with Joe DeVito, the Mets’ executive producer for content and marketing who quit in March, spoke to team lawyers about incidents they described as sexual harassment. The Athletic reported he gave one woman an unsolicited back rub in front of others and invited another female employee to drink scotch with him during a workday.
The Athletic report also said DeVito sent unwanted text messages to one employee, with one of them reading: “I’ve barely hit on you. So that counts for something.” Three women complained in 2018 that Ryan Ellis, then the hitting-performance coordinator, made aggressive sexual comments to them and sent persistent suggestive text messages. Ellis was fired in January.
All of these complaints were brought to the attention of the HR department’s top official, Holly Lindvall, though reportedly nothing was done about it.
The Athletic reported Alderson contacted one of the women he had been told was mistreated by Newman. That woman said she corroborated what her co-worker told Alderson about Newman and told him that Newman made life “miserable” for those around him.
Alderson reportedly told her that Newman’s behavior was “unacceptable,” but that he believed in second chances and said he would tell Newman to “knock it off.” Alderson announced Newman’s hiring later that day.
“I guess how I’d respond to that is well, if there was disappointment on Day 1, I’m hoping that [there is] optimism on Day 100whatever-it-is based on how we handle other situations going forward,” Alderson told The Athletic.
Following ESPN’s report that former Mets general manager Jared Porter — who was fired in January — sent explicit photographs to a female reporter while with the Cubs and The Athletic’s report that former Mets manager Mickey Callaway — currently suspended by Angels while under investigation by MLB — was accused of sending and soliciting lewd photos and making inappropriate comments toward female media members, the Mets’ leadership of Alderson and Cohen have come under a microscope.
“Several weeks ago, I retained WilmerHale to conduct a review of the organization’s culture,” Cohen said in a statement to The Athletic. “They will provide me with a report of what they find. I will listen carefully and then take any steps I believe are appropriate based on the findings.”