Chicago Cubs Sued for Age Bias: Lessons About Our Email and Texts

After the Cubs fired a 65 year-old scout, he sued for age discrimination under federal and California law. The case is pending but the pre-trial motions provide all of us lessons.

The scout became aware of emails made by a Cubs executive that ranked scouts on their physical attributes, including a “beauty contest” type of discussion. The fired scout heard he was at the bottom of the ranking on appearance due to ageist statements (he had hip surgery just prior to his termination).

Lesson #1: If you write an email about a colleague, and don’t share it with that colleague, don’t assume your colleague won’t see this email.

Now the Cubs think they’ve dug up some dirt on the scout. They’re asking the court for access to his private text messages that relate to his supervision by the Cubs.

Lesson #2: In a lawsuit, your text messages are subject to discovery to the extent that a court finds them to be relevant.

So far, the Cubs are losing this pre-trial game, 1-0. They’ve been ordered to produce three relevant emails relating to this employee appearance. The judge is mulling over the Cubs’ request for the former scout’s texts.

Lesson #3. Avoid commenting on a co-worker’s appearance. I admit I need to work on this. In the past I have complimented co-workers on something they were wearing. My compliments were well-intentioned but could be viewed in an unfavorable light. I am consciously correcting this tendency. 
(You might agree with my wife who believes that I am overemphasizing this advice to be neutral about commenting on a co-worker's appearance.)

This lawsuit provides all of us a moment to step back and think critically about how we use emails and texts related to our work—and relatedly, how we comment on appearances. I hope you will join me in auditing your own behaviors and work toward eliminating-- or at least questioning-- these types of communications.