Umpire files racial discrimination lawsuit against MLB

Toronto Blue Jays John Gibbons argues with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez (Mark Blinch/CP)

CINCINNATI — Angel Hernandez, a big league umpire for nearly a quarter-century, sued Major League Baseball on Monday alleging race discrimination.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the 55-year-old Hernandez, who was born in Cuba and lives in Florida, alleges MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre "has a history of animosity towards Hernandez stemming from Torre’s time as manager of the New York Yankees."

As evidence of the alleged discrimination, the suit cites Hernandez’s lack of World Series assignments in the past decade and baseball not promoting Hernandez to crew chief.

MLB declined comment, spokesman Michael Teevan said.

Hernandez cites criticism by Torre in 2001 that Hernandez "seems to see something nobody else does" and "I think he just wanted to be noticed over there."

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