MLB Updates Harassment Policy in Wake of Misconduct Accounts

Major League Baseball has updated its code of conduct about harassment and discrimination.

Major League Baseball has updated its code of conduct about harassment and discrimination in the wake of two published stories documenting accounts of misconduct. 

In a memo, obtained by The Athletic's Lindsey Adler, MLB will provide a third-party anonymous hotline for reporting incidents of harassment and will require “anti-harassment and discrimination training for Club executives” during spring training.

In January, the Mets fired general manager Jared Porter, who had been hired in December 2020, after ESPN reported on a string of explicit and unsolicited text messages sent to a female reporter in 2016. 

In early February, the Angels suspended pitching coach Mickey Callaway, in the wake of a report from The Athletic that detailed accounts of Callaway sending inappropriate photographs and unsolicited messages to at least five women working in sports media over a five-year span. ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported at the time of the suspension that Callaway has denied any wrongdoing, which protects him from being fired without an investigation.

“Major League Baseball is committed to ensuring that all individuals who work in and around the game are welcomed and treated equally, with dignity, respect and professionalism," the league said in a statement to The Athletic. 

"To accomplish this goal, MLB and its Clubs will continue to strive to create environments in which people feel safe and accepted — and when they do not, they feel comfortable speaking up without fear of recrimination, retaliation, or exclusion.”

The league says that depending on the severity of the situation, "remedial action" may occur in the form a warning suspension and firing, among other actions. Per The Athletic, a prior version of the league's harassment and discrimination policy did not outline repercussions for violating the policy.

The league is expected to distribute its revised policy, and a corresponding flier on Tuesday with spring training getting underway imminently.