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Ex-White Sox Trainer’s Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Restored

Published

12 months ago

February 18, 2025

Ex-White Sox Trainer’s Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Restored

An Illinois appellate court last Friday reversed the dismissal of a discrimination lawsuit brought by the team’s former head trainer, Brian Ball, who contends he was let go in 2020 because of his sexual orientation.

Ball v. White Sox suggests that employment termination agreements for team personnel, who are paid in exchange for relinquishing potential claims, might not extinguish the risk of litigation for teams.

Writing for himself and Justices Carl A. Walker and Celia Gamrath, Justice Michael B. Hyman wrote, “allowing an employer to conceal discriminatory motives while inducing an employee to waive statutory protections undercuts the very purpose of anti-discrimination statutes.”

Ball joined the White Sox in 2000 as an assistant trainer. He was promoted to head trainer in 2018. In July 2020, Ball was the victim of a violent carjacking when two men beat him and then stole his car.

The White Sox placed Ball on medical leave and instructed him to see a psychologist before returning to work. Ball claims that team executives assured him his job would be waiting for him, but after being cleared by the psychologist to return to work, and eager to do so, he was fired in October 2020; Ball asserts he was told he did not “fit in” to the club’s plans. At the time, Ball, like other non-uniform White Sox employees, was employed on a month-to-month basis consistent with a COVID-19 pandemic employment policy.

The White Sox then presented Ball with a termination agreement that offered one year of salary and health insurance premiums, with Ball separately receiving health care coverage through an MLB policy. The agreement required Ball to release the White Sox for any legal claims, including those that could be raised through the Age Discrimination in Employment Law, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act. Ball was given 21 days to sign but contends he was urged to sign it within a week. Ball signed the agreement.

A couple of months later, Ball contends a White Sox management-level employee told him the real reason he was fired was because he’s gay. Ball then filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, which later issued Ball a right-to-sue letter. Ball sued the White Sox, which disputed his allegations and stressed that Ball contractually waived claims in consideration for the termination provisions that called for a year of pay and benefits.

Cook County (Ill.) Circuit Court Judge Thomas M. Donnelly dismissed Ball’s case in 2023 on grounds Ball contractually relinquished claims and had failed to provide “clear and convincing evidence” to establish the White Sox committed any fraud. Ball appealed, arguing (among other things) the termination agreement was borne through fraudulent concealment and that the trial court erred by requiring more of him than necessary in a motion to dismiss.

Hyman agreed. He reasoned that Ball’s allegations “directly challenge the validity of the termination agreement” and namely whether the White Sox “procured his signature by concealing the truth.” The case should not have been dismissed, Hyman wrote, since key points are in dispute.

The judge also noted there are “several factors” that “weigh against enforcing the waiver.” They include that when Ball signed the waiver, the U.S. unemployment rate had climbed to nearly 15% due to the COVID-19 pandemic and he had reason to worry about continued access to health care just “months after the violent carjacking.” Hyman also noted that Ball appears to have lacked “business experience or legal knowledge” about the agreement and it doesn’t seem he consulted with an attorney.

But most significant, Hyman reasoned, is that “nowhere” in affidavits or during oral argument did “the White Sox refute” Ball’s contention he was misled about why he was let go. The White Sox pushed back against that point, arguing, as Ball’s employer, it “had no duty to provide Ball a reason for terminating him.” Also, the White Sox maintained, even if there was a duty that the team failed to meet, Ball would have cured that problem by retaining the compensation from the agreement.

Hyman disagreed, writing “the law does not condone deception.” As to the legal impact of Ball keeping the severance pay and medical benefits, Hyman explained the trial court did not address that issue and thus it is not for the appellate court to decide at this juncture. The case returns to the trial court level, and it’s possible the parties could reach a settlement at any point.

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World

Suffocating Western pressure may finally force Russian oil output cuts

Published

8 hours ago

February 16, 2026

Press Room

Suffocating Western pressure may finally force Russian oil output cuts

Russian oil producers could be forced to sharply cut output in coming months as tightening pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and European powers restricts the country’s exports and its storage fills up, a development that would further dent the Kremlin’s war chest.

World

Australia Hanukkah terror attack suspect seen for first time in prison

Published

10 hours ago

February 16, 2026

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Australia Hanukkah terror attack suspect seen for first time in prison

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The man accused of carrying out a Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, Australia, was seen publicly for the first time Monday, appearing by video link from Goulburn Supermax prison during a hearing at Downing Center Local Court.

7NewsAustralia reported that Naveed Akram, 24, spoke only briefly during the less than 10-minute hearing as a suppression order protecting the names of some victims was extended.

“Did you hear what just occurred?” Deputy Chief Magistrate Sharon Freund asked. “Yep,” Akram replied.

“Your solicitor will call you, OK?” Freund said.

FAMILIES MOURN LOVED ONES LOST IN BONDI BEACH TERROR ATTACK: ‘NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE THE PAIN’

A court sketch depicts accused Bondi shooter Naveed Akram appearing via video link from Goulburn Supermax prison at Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Rocco Fazzari/AAP Image via AP)

“Yeah,” responded the shooting suspect.

Akram has been charged with one count of committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and additional firearms and explosives offenses, according to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions website.

The most serious charges carry potential life imprisonment.

ISRAELI DIASPORA MINISTER SAYS AUSTRALIA SHOULD HAVE SEEN ‘WRITING ON THE WALL’ BEFORE TERROR ATTACK

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 10-year-old Matilda and French national Dan Elkayam were victims of the Bondi Beach attack. (Audrey Richardson/Getty Images/Facebook/Eli Schlanger/GoFundMe/Project Volta)

Akram’s lawyer, Ben Archbold, told reporters it was too early to indicate how his client would plead, according to 7NewsAustralia.

“There’s a client that needs to be represented. And we don’t let our personal view get in the way of our professional application,” Archbold said.

His next court appearance is scheduled for April 8.

Police teams take security measures at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday after a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community during the first night of Hanukkah. ( Claudio Galdames A/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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The 24-year-old is accused of carrying out Australia’s deadliest terror attack targeting a Jewish “Hanukkah by the Sea” celebration at Bondi Beach in December.

His father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed in a gun battle with police at the scene.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the Bondi attack as an “ISIS-inspired atrocity,” saying at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra late last year that the government had been informed by the Office of National Intelligence of an ISIS online video feed reinforcing that assessment.

Ashley Carnahan is a writer at Fox News Digital.

World

Ukraine team heads for Geneva talks as Moscow, Kyiv build military pressure

Published

11 hours ago

February 16, 2026

Press Room

Ukraine team heads for Geneva talks as Moscow, Kyiv build military pressure

Representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the US are set to meet for a third round of trilateral negotiations to end the four-year war.

Published On 16 Feb 2026

Ukrainian officials have left for Geneva, Switzerland, where another round of negotiations aimed at ending the war with Russia is set to take place.

“On the way to Geneva. The next round of negotiations is ahead. Along the way, we will discuss the lessons of our history with our colleagues, seek the right conclusions,” Ukraine’s Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov posted on his Telegram channel on Monday, along with a picture of him standing in front of a train with two other members of the delegation he is heading.

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The Geneva talks follow two rounds of the United States-brokered negotiations held in the United Arab Emirates in January and early February.

The last meeting marked the first direct public talks between Moscow and Kyiv on a plan proposed by the Trump administration to end the conflict, which started with Russia invading its neighbouring country in February 2022.

Russia and Ukraine described both rounds of talks as constructive, but failed to achieve any breakthrough.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said he hoped the trilateral talks in Geneva “will be serious, substantive” and “helpful for all of us”.

“But honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things,” Zelenskyy said. “The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia.”

Among the most contentious issues is the long-term fate of the eastern Ukrainian region, large parts of which Russia has occupied. Moscow is demanding that Kyiv pull its troops from the Donbas region, including heavily fortified cities that sit atop vast natural resources, as a condition for any deal. It also wants international recognition for the land it has unilaterally annexed in eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv said the conflict should be frozen along the current front lines and has rejected a one-sided pullback of forces. Ukrainian officials are also demanding solid security guarantees against future Russian attacks.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said people in the Russian capital do not seem to be too enthusiastic about the talks.

“The general public does not take this next round very seriously. The first two did not answer a lot of questions,” she said, referring to the territorial issues and the implementation of a ceasefire mechanism.

As both parties prepare for further negotiations, they are also ramping up military pressure.

Kyiv said it carried out a large-scale drone attack on energy infrastructure in western Russia on Sunday.

On Monday, the governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said Russian forces destroyed more than 220 drones. The strikes, which lasted more than 12 hours, were the heaviest since the start of the war, he said. Residents were temporarily left without heating.

Russian army chief General Valery Gerasimov said on Sunday his forces took control of 12 settlements in eastern Ukraine this month, an equivalent of 200sq km (77sq miles).

“The task of the military operation continues to be carried out. The offensive is under way in all directions,” Gerasimov said while visiting troops on the front line in the Ukrainian territory.