Former MLB shortstop Omar Vizquel is being sued over accusations that he sexually harassed a batboy while Vizquel was manager of the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A affiliate.
The Barons, the White Sox and the Chisov Corporation are all mentioned as defendants in the case.
According to Sports Illustrated, the lawsuit accuses Vizquel of “sexually aggressive behavior: and “at least five occasions” where he “deliberately exposed his partially erect penis” to the batboy, while also demanding the he was his back.
The batboy, who has autism, was "humiliated, intimidated, and frightened of what would happen if he disobeyed ... [and] complied with Vizquel's demand," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that after an Aug. 22, 2019 game, Vizquel came out of the shower naked, handed the batboy a bar of soap and said, “What my damn back!”
When the batboy informed multiple Barons staff members that he was forced to wash Vizquel’s back, they allegedly laughed at him and told him, "Everything that happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse."
The unnamed accuser has “substantial impairments in processing information, handling stressful situations, successfully maintaining interpersonal relations, and in activities such as driving and working.”
The complaint also mentioned that in 2015 a Tigers batboy tweeted that "Omar Vizquel told me first day batboys have to clean the coaches backs in the showers.”
Vizquel was suspended and investigated by the White Sox in 2019 and was eventually fired that September. The lawsuit claims that the White Sox had “actual or presumed” knowledge of similar incidents involving Vizquel.
