Discrimination suit poses multiple threats to Jeff Wilpon

Former Mets senior vice president of ticket sales Leigh Castergine has filed a sexual discrimination complaint against Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, alleging that Wilpon 'frequently humiliated' her during her pregnancy, often in the presence of witnesses, and ultimately fired her for seeking a remedy with the team's human resources department.

The Mets issued a statement responding to the allegations which said, 'The claims are without merit. Our organization maintains strong policies against any and all forms of discrimination.'

The complaint comes as Wilpon and his family seek to stabilize their finances and their hold on the team. It also happens to be hitting the news in the wake of Donald Sterling's forced exit as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Bruce Levenson selling his share of the Atlanta Hawks, means Wilpon's actions are going to be discussed within the framework of another league seeing multiple owners depart over questions of discrimination.

Merits aside, the complaint seems designed to take advantage of this, as well as the Wilpon family's involvement in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi schemes, and their subsequent public mistatements about the state of their own and the team's finances.

At one point, the complaint says, 'Moreover, the team has been unable to acquire premier talent, in part, because of its serious financial woes. ...The Team's ownership and front office have only made things worse. For example, Mets executives persisted in publicly denying the Team's financial difficulties despite the obvious freefall in player payroll ... each season, the Mets' front office insisted that the team had the ability to spend money on new players, only to see payroll drop even further.'

Castergine is a Wharton-educated businesswoman who received a promotion from the Mets just prior to her pregnancy. She could be a tricky opponent in a courtroom, and she's certain to be a problematic opponent for Wilpon and the Mets in the public eye.

That leaves the question of exactly why this case didn't settle before Castergine filed. A two-week period offered the chronological opportunity, and multiple attorneys I spoke to described it as extremely unlikely that Anne C. Vladeck, the decorated, top-shelf attorney representing Castergine (sort of an anti-Gloria Allred), would have proceeded without attempting a settlement.

It is of course possible that Wilpon has a solid, factual defense. But cases have often been settled in spite of this, particularly when the defendant in an owner in the litigation-averse world of Major League Baseball.

Another possibility is that Castergine is asking for more money than Wilpon, the son of Mets owner Fred Wilpon, is capable of paying. The statutes under which the suit was filed do not carry with them caps on damages. And with Castergine seeking not just compensatory damages but punitive damages, a jury that found Wilpon liable would be instructed to set out an amount commensurate with what he can pay, and one designed to sting.

Remember, this is still the same family that managed to settle with Irving Picard, trustee for the Bernie Madoff victims, because they were out of funds back in 2012. Since then, they've managed to stay afloat largely by borrowing against the skyrocketing equity in their 65 percent stake in S.N.Y., using the local sports television network boom to stave off bankruptcy.

But borrowing further against that to pay off a potential sexual discrimination lawsuit, doing so quickly, and in time to avoid a lawsuit is not easy. Nor is any insurer they have to cover such events likely to be sympathetic to a quick resolution, avoiding any further damage to Wilpon's reputation. Said insurer wouldn't much care what happens to Wilpon's public standing.

It is also possible that Castergine has more than just monetary damages in mind. Certainly, the complaint signals that the plaintiff is also well aware of the power of the allegations to affect the Wilpons in the court of public opinion, as well as their standing in the league.

The fact that these are still only allegations means that unlike the secret tape and elevator video that forced the N.B.A. and N.F.L. to take action against a racist owner and wife-beating star player, respectively, Major League Baseball isn't yet compelled to do anything. But it faces a potential crisis should it not even try to determine whether a team owner acted as Castergine alleges Wilpon did. Failing to investigate the matter fully, at least, is going to look awful within the public context of N.F.L. commissioner Roger Goodell's actions after the league was sent a tape of Rice knocking his fiancee unconscious and dragging her out of an elevator.

The structure of the lawsuit itself, too, makes potential league actions more complicated. As an veteran attorney in sexual discrimination matters explained it, by pointing out how many other people in the organization-such as chief financial officer Lou DiPaoli and chief counsel David Cohen-allegedly failed to act, it poses a threat not just to Jeff Wilpon but to the collective management of the New York Mets.

Figuring all this out, for now, is Bud Selig, who is commissioner of baseball until January. In 2014, the conversation has been about Selig's legacy, something clearly important to him. The extent to which the Mets have been gutted, as part of his legacy, is both seldom talked about publicly, and something acutely understood by both the team's fan base and most of Wilpon's fellow owners.

M.L.B. walked a noncommittal line on Wednesday night.

But if Jeff Wilpon lacks the cash to make this go away, or Leigh Castergine decides she wants more than cash for it to happen, then Bud Selig will have to make a decision about whether to let one of his owners go to trial, or to do whatever he can to prevent that from happening.

Should the proceedings extend beyond January, and Selig punts, new commissioner Rob Manfred will have the opportunity to weigh in. Manfred, whose first public appearance after winning the job of commissioner-elect was to watch Mo'ne Davis pitch, will be acutely aware of what his actions in this matter will tell the public about him.

The state of the Wilpons, as owners, wasn't great before the lawsuit. The team's debt of more than $600 million against their ownership stake in S.N.Y. comes due next year. It either needs to be paid, which obviously can't happen, or re-financed the way the $250 million debt against the team was this past year. That would also need to be approved by Major League Baseball.

Back in 2011, Selig nixed a potential deal between wayward Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Fox for the Dodgers' television rights, citing concern over the 'further diversion of Dodgers assets for the personal needs of Mr. McCourt.'

By contrast, Selig approved the re-finance of Mets team debt in 2014, and it was widely expected the same would be true of Manfred with the 2015 S.N.Y. debt. One who clearly expected it was Fred Wilpon, who forcefully advocated for Manfred during a at-times contentious election battle last month before crowing about Manfred's election in the owner-sympathetic Daily News.

But it was Selig and Wilpon who shared a long history together. Expecting more of the same from Manfred was less about that relationship and more about not knowing what level of unseemliness would have to become public before he's moved to make a change.

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