Sylvia Lind, the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the commissioner’s office, has filed suit against Major League Baseball, arguing she has been underpaid and passed over for promotions.
Lind and her lawyers say that MLB has failed to consider, interview and promote Hispanic women for promotion since her 1995 hiring. She’s also claiming a hostile work environment because of her age, 48. The suit was filed in Manhattan federal court.
Lind, the league’s director of baseball initiatives in its Office of the Commissioner, names as defendants the league, commissioner Bud Selig and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who supervised her. Messages to the league were not immediately returned Thursday.
The lawsuit says Lind works in an industry dominated by white men and has been passed over for promotions and underpaid since 1995.
Lind said Hispanics are underrepresented in the management level while baseball has a high percentage of Hispanic players. She said of 52 people who are vice presidents or above only two are Hispanic and only 12 are women.
There are many talented women in baseball, but hang around enough and you’ll hear plenty of stories of unnecessary struggles and less-than-enlightened leaders. Baseball has a long ways to when it comes to women and minorities in the front office; to his credit, MiLB’s Pat O’Conner has identified this as a need.