Ownership is in hot water as a lawsuit has been filed by a former high-ranking employee.
The Wilpons would be a lot easier to tolerate if they would stop getting themselves and their money into so much trouble. Unfortunately, today comes the report of another misstep by team ownership, this one at the expense of Leigh Castergine, the Mets' former head of marketing and ticket sales.
Castergine was let go by the Mets last month, but she just recently filed a lawsuit saying that she was terminated not for poor performance, but for being pregnant and single. According to the suit, it was COO Jeff Wilpon, son of owner Fred Wilpon, who took the greatest exception to Castergine's condition. From the suit:
"He frequently humiliated Castergine in front of others by, among other things, pretending to see if she had an engagement ring on her finger and openly stating in a meeting of the Team's all-male senior executives that he is ‘morally opposed' to Castergine ‘having this baby without being married."
We have no way of knowing how valid this lawsuit is. We do know that the club is having trouble getting people to fill in the empty seats at Citi Field. Without the necessary financial resources to improve the team on the field, perhaps the Wilpons are just looking for a new executive who can magically drum up excitement for the team without improving the on-field product.
On the other hand, Castergine is a veteran of the sports industry who has also worked for the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, and Boston Bruins. According to the lawsuit, she was terminated shortly after complaining about Jeff Wilpon's behavior to the club's human resources department.
Either way, this story will do nothing but raise the ire of fans, many of whom already think that Jeff Wilpon and his father are unfit to run the Mets.