World
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.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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