The New York Mets once again find themselves in headlines for all the wrong reasons, as the Athletic has reported on another incident that involves a former employee’s conduct against women.
According to the report, three women came to the Mets in the summer of 2018 to complain to the human resources department about Ryan Ellis, the hitting performance coordinator. Ellis made these women feel uncomfortable at work with his predatory behavior, as he would make off-handed comments such as telling one woman, “I stare at your ass all the time. If only I could have 15 minutes alone with you.”
Ken Rosenthal reported on the story, with help from fellow Athletic writers Britt Ghiroli and Katie Strang. Their reporting indicates that this woman was in her early 20s and she went to Aubrey Wechsler, who used to be the Mets employee relations manager, to try to put an end to these unwanted advances.
Despite multiple accusations from three different women, the Mets did not address Ellis’ behavior until last month, after firing Jared Porter for his own case of sexual harassment. As the Mets began to reevaluate their staff following that incident, Ellis was finally terminated.
Ellis had been with the Mets since 2006, and was just recently working as their major league hitting coordinator. The Mets gave the Athletic the following statement about firing Ellis:
“On January 19 of this year, following the termination of Jared Porter, we received new information regarding conduct of the disciplined employee in the 2017-2018 timeframe. We immediately commenced a new investigation and terminated the employee on January 22 for violating company policy and failure to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
When the Athletic asked what had previously been reported to the team, here was their response,
“In July 2018, a complaint regarding inappropriate conduct by a Mets employee was brought to the attention of Mets management at that time. The organization initiated an investigation and, as a result, the employee was disciplined, put into a probationary status, and ordered into counseling. We had not received previous or subsequent complaints about this employee.”
This story was thoroughly reported by the Athletic, with more details about the harassment and Ellis longstanding role within the Mets organization. Hopefully this offseason of troubling stories causes great change on how this franchise hires and manages their employees, making it a safer place for women to work.
