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an ex Los Angeles Angels A team employee convicted of providing drugs that led to the death of one of the team’s star pitchers was good at his job but had some behavioral problems and was taking prescription medication to deal with depression and bipolar disorder, the official testified Wednesday.
Tim Mead was the first witness to testify in the long-awaited civil trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of late pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Mead left the Angels just weeks before his death from an overdose in 2019 to become president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where he oversaw team communications.
The family argues that the team should be held responsible for Skaggs’ death, as its communications director, Eric Kay, was convicted of providing the fentanyl-tainted pill that led to Skaggs’ overdose during the team’s trip. texas In 2019.
Mead, who was Kay’s boss, told the court Santa Ana Thursday that he knew Kay took medication and sometimes took time off due to mental health issues. Mead said Kay was a good employee 95% of the time, but occasionally engaged in questionable conduct, such as yelling at one intern, having an affair with another, and taking money from players for stunts such as getting hit by a fast-moving pitch.
“He was a good employee, he was a good performer. If that happened I would call it a day off,” said Mead, who now works as an assistant professor. “I listened to him to learn about his condition and what he was dealing with.”
Mead said he believed Kay was mismanaging his medication, and said Kay sometimes told him he did not take it, and that he had never heard anything about him taking illegal drugs. When an attorney for the plaintiff’s family asked why Mead did not tell the team about Kay’s issues, Mead said that Kay was participating in an employee assistance program that he considered “part of the organization.”
In April 2019, Mead said that concerns about Kay rose to a new level when he was behaving abnormally at work and was hospitalized later that night. Mead said he went to meet Kay the next day.
Mead said, “He was a mess. His eyes were half rolled back into his head.” “There was clearly something very wrong.”
Skaggs’ wife, Carly, and parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit, saying the team failed to follow its drug policies and allowed Kay, an addicted and drug-dealing employee, access to its players.
The Angels argue that Skaggs and Kay were involved in drugs at their own time and that the team could not have prevented the act, which Skaggs committed in the privacy of his hotel room the night he died. The team has also said that its officers did not know Skaggs was taking drugs otherwise they would have tried to help him.
The trial comes more than six years after the 27-year-old Skaggs was found dead in a suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were to begin a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. The coroner’s report said Skaggs died of asphyxiation due to vomit and a toxic mixture of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.
Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl and was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five people mlb Players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019 were accused of obtaining the pills and giving them to Angels players in those years.
Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million in lost earnings as well as compensation for his pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team.
Skaggs was a regular in the Angels’ starting lineup since late 2016 and battled recurring injuries during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After his death, MLB reached an agreement with the players’ union to begin testing for opioids and refer those who test positive to a treatment board.
The trial is expected to take several weeks and may include testimony from players, including Angels outfielder mike trout and the team’s former pitcher, Wade Miley, who currently plays for the Cincinnati Reds.