Former Royals employee sues team for alleged racial discrimination, hostile environment
A former Royals employee filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the baseball team alleging that he was fired because of his race, according to court documents.
Kansas resident Cleitus Ross is suing Kansas City Royals Baseball Club, LLC in the U.S. Western District Court of Missouri. The lawsuit alleges that the team created a hostile work environment while Ross was employed at the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy.
The Kansas City Urban Youth Academy is a nonprofit organization run by the Royals that’s designed to give children ages 6 to 18 the opportunity to play baseball and softball and gain leadership skills.
The Royals told The Star in a statement that the allegations were “wholly without merit.”
“Since opening its doors in 2018, the Urban Youth Academy (UYA) has dedicated itself to bettering the lives of youth throughout the Kansas City region, regardless of race, color, disability, gender, religion, age, or sexual orientation,” the team said. “We remain unequivocally committed to UYA’s goals and will not allow this legal action to undermine important and impactful work for the youth of our community.”
Ross began working with the urban youth academy in April 2018 as a baseball program coordinator. He said in court documents that he was fired from the position in July 2021 partially because he is Black.
According to the lawsuit, the urban youth academy was originally intended to serve underprivileged children in the local community, many of whom are people of color. But Royals leadership began shifting away from that mission through restructuring within the academy, Ross said.
The lawsuit alleges that leaders knew Ross would not agree with this realignment and he was subsequently fired.
“The Royals failed to make good faith efforts to enforce policies to prevent unlawful race discrimination against its employees, including Ross,” Ross’ attorneys wrote in the suit.
The lawsuit stipulates that Ross is entitled to punitive damages “in an amount sufficient to punish the Royals or deter the Royals” from similar conduct in the future.
This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 12:12 PM.
