Fired minor league umpire sues MLB, claiming he was sexually harassed by a female colleague because he is bisexual and discriminated against because of an illegal quota system that favors women and minorities.

A fired minor league umpire sued Major League Baseball on Wednesday, claiming he was sexually harassed by a female umpire and discriminated against because he was a man and bisexual.

Brandon Cooper, an umpire who worked in the minor league Arizona Complex League last year, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against MLB and PDL Blue Inc., an affiliated entity.

“Historically, MLB had a consistent roster of umpires working in both the minor and major leagues,” the suit claims. “Specifically, to date, no woman has worked a (regular) season game played in the majors, and most umpires are still white men. In an attempt to address the issue of sexual diversity and racial, the defendants implemented an illegal diversity quota requiring that women be promoted without distinction of merit.

Cooper’s lawsuit says he attended referee training camps in 2022 and 2023 and that former referee Ed Rapuano, now a referee evaluator, and Darren Spagnardi, a referee development supervisor, told him said in January 2023 that MLB must include at least two women among 10 new employees.

Cooper says he was invited to spring training in 2023, put on a taxi squad and told by Dusty Dellinger, senior director of officiating administration, that women and minority candidates should be hired first. Cooper was assigned to the ACL in late March and said he received a high rating in June from former major league umpire Jim Reynolds, now supervisor of umpires.

Cooper alleged that fellow referee Gina Quartararo, then a member of the ACL and now of the Florida State League, learned that Cooper was bisexual and mocked him and fellow referee Kevin Bruno with homophobic slurs and insults. rude remarks. Cooper said he informed Dellinger, then MLB told him he had to undergo sensitivity training and later that he was accused of violating the minor leagues’ anti-discrimination and harassment policy.

Billy Bean, MLB’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, met with Cooper, according to the lawsuit, and informed the arbitrator that Quartararo had claimed to have been victimized as the only woman ACL referee. Cooper said he told Bean there was video evidence of Quartararo’s alleged misconduct, which included physical action.

Cooper said he was cut from the playoffs and fired in October, and he claimed he was the only one to be fired among the 26 referees in the hired group.

He alleged a hostile work environment and wrongful termination and/or retaliation based on gender and sexual orientation under New York State and City law. MLB is based in New York.

MLB declined to comment on the pending litigation, according to spokesman Michael Teevan, and also said it was trying to contact Quartararo to see if she would like to comment. Quartararo was one of nine women working as minor league umpires this season.

Jen Pawol this year became the first woman to umpire major league spring training since 2007 and works at Triple-A, one level below the majors. She is eligible for recall as a vacation/injury replacement to the major leagues.