He never saw the performance file that surfaced only after he filed his EEOC charge
A veteran baseball scout says the Washington Nationals declined to renew him at 50, then cost him a shot at another Major League job.
The former area supervisor sued the Nationals in federal court in Houston on August 26, alleging age discrimination and retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, interference with his pension under federal benefits law, and defamation. He is representing himself.
For HR readers, the case turns on documentation. According to the complaint, the scout went three years without a performance review, a performance improvement plan, or any warning that his job was at risk. When two department heads called in late August 2024 to say his contract would not be renewed and he asked why, one told him they were “not at liberty to disclose that information,” the filing says.
A performance document surfaced later. After the scout filed his EEOC charge, the club produced a “2024 Scouting Performance Recap” dated July 31, 2024. He says he had never seen it, that no one ever gave it to him, and that its signature line sat blank. The complaint alleges the document’s timing and circumstances “support a strong inference that it was created or materially altered after [his] separation” to build a “post-hoc performance justification” - a paper record put together after the fact. He wants the document’s original electronic file and its metadata - the behind-the-scenes data that can show when a file was really created - produced in discovery.
The recap allegedly faulted him for missing two prospects. The complaint disputes that, pointing to the club’s internal scouting database, where he says he had ranked both players, one of whom was later drafted 18th overall, though not by the Nationals.
The scout also put numbers on the table. The filing alleges the club declined to renew about 29 employees over 50 during 2023 and 2024, at an average separation age near 58.5, while hiring about 11 people averaging roughly 30.5 years old. He points to his October 2023 renewal, which raised his base salary to $88,000, as a sign the club saw no performance problem at the time.
There is a benefits angle too. The complaint says the Nationals are one of just three of the 30 MLB clubs that offer a traditional defined-benefit pension for non-uniformed staff such as scouts. With about 27 years of credited service behind him, the scout claims his non-renewal was timed to stop his pension from growing further, and he puts the lost pension value at roughly $1.57 million - a number expert evidence would still have to confirm.
The reference allegation is the one many HR functions will recognize. The scout says that after he applied to the New York Mets, someone acting for the Nationals told the Mets he “did not work,” or words to that effect, and that the Mets then passed on him. He calls the statement false and points to two Scout of the Year awards he says he earned at other clubs.
The complaint also lays out a paper trail: a written grievance in March 2025, a written escalation in April, and a complaint to Major League Baseball in June. It alleges the club’s chief legal officer replied that “The Nationals have no interest in mediation or further discussion,” then routed all further contact to outside counsel.
The EEOC closed its file and issued a right-to-sue notice on June 2, 2026, without deciding whether the claims had merit.
None of the allegations have been tested, and no court has ruled.
