Challenges grow for Angels in Tyler Skaggs death case
Angels face lawsuit focusing on club management and whether enough was done to protect Tyler Skaggs
Testimony in the wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Angels highlights the difficulties the team’s lawyers faced in convincing jurors that they were unaware of addiction problems before the employee Eric Kay will provide the caster Tyler Skaggs a pill with fentanyl that caused his death in 2019.
The trial, now entering its sixth week, continues to focus on the team’s management of Kay’s drug addiction treatment and whether management did enough to protect Skaggs as Kay’s behavior became increasingly bizarre, prompting his wife and some Angels employees to raise questions about his drug use.
Kay was present in Skaggs’ hotel room the night he overdosed on alcohol and opioids, less than a month after Kay returned to work from a drug addiction treatment program. At Kay’s criminal trial in 2022, several witnesses testified that he distributed pills to other players.
The team doctor testified last week that he prescribed more than 600 opioid pills to Kay over several years before learning how addictive they could be.
Conflicting testimony from current and former Angels representatives has intensified scrutiny over what the Angels knew and whether management communicated their concerns about Kay to Major League Baseball (MLB). Among the key elements of the trial in the last two weeks are:
– Deborah JohnstonAngels vice president of human resources, stated Monday that the team collaborated with MLB to address Kay’s addiction, despite her own statement and previous testimony from other Angels officials who claimed to be unaware of such coordination.
-The MLB sent a statement to AM850 denying any knowledge or involvement in Kay’s treatment. Before the judge, after the jury left the courtroom Wednesday, lawyers for the Skaggs family accused Johnston of perjury, a serious charge. Angels attorneys immediately denied the perjury allegation.
– Angels officials testified that they believed Kay’s problems stemmed from medication prescribed to treat mental health problems, while clubhouse employees testified that they witnessed or believed that Kay had a drug problem.
– Angels officials testified that they believed Kay suffered from bipolar disorder, even though his medical history upon entering rehab in April 2019 showed no record of medication to treat the disorder. Kay’s ex-wife, Camelatestified that he was unaware of the diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
– The team doctor, Craig Milhousetestified that he prescribed Kay 600 pills of the opioids Norco and Vicodin over a 44-month period between 2009 and 2013.
The key issue in the case is whether the Angels knew that Kay was abusing drugs and providing them to players, including Skaggs, while working as a member of the team. Kay is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison for providing the drug that caused Skaggs’ death in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019. The team maintains that he and Skaggs were in private, off-duty, when the overdose occurred.
The plaintiffs allege that the Angels endangered Skaggs by continuing to employ Kay when his behavior showed warning signs of drug abuse. Los Angels officials claim they are not responsible for Skaggs’ death, that they were unaware of his drug use, and that it was Skaggs’ reckless decision to mix alcohol with illicit drugs that caused his death. Managers also testified that they were unaware that Kay was providing drugs to players when Skaggs died.
The Skaggs family is seeking $118 million in estimated lost wages, plus possible punitive damages.
Johnston testified last week that the franchise had worked with MLB to get Kay help for his drug addiction. It is the first time a Los Angels official has suggested MLB was aware of Kay’s problem, a key point in the controversy over team liability.
Johnston stated that when the Angels investigate possible use of illegal substances at team facilities, immediate dismissal is an option, depending on the results. “Another option is to work with the MLB, as we did in this case, and with our doctor, Dr. (Erik) Abell,” he stated. Abell was the team’s liaison with MLB on these matters.
Johnston also testified that Kay underwent a drug test under MLB policies, not those of the Los Angels.
In a text message sent to AM850 on the perjury accusation, the Los Angels lawyer, Todd Theodorawrote: “The allegation that Ms. Johnston committed perjury is completely false and defamatory. Her testimony was truthful, based on several text messages recently shown to her demonstrating that Dr. Abell was treating Eric Kay.”
He added that Johnston “made no statement as to whether Dr. Abell reported this to MLB.”
An MLB spokesperson denied that the league knew of Kay’s drug use or was involved in his treatment.
In separate statements to AM850 Over the weekend, Theodora and the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Rusty Hardin, argued over the issue of perjury. Theodora called the judge’s lack of a ruling on the allegation a victory for their cause, while Hardin insisted that the lack of a ruling means the matter remains open, including the plaintiffs’ efforts to obtain testimony from MLB.
The civil lawyer Geoffrey Hickeybased in California, declared AM850 that perjury can only be proven if Johnston made a false statement under oath “willingly and knowingly.” Hickey stated that Hardin has a good faith argument, but does not believe Johnston’s statements constitute perjury.
Johnston testified in a pretrial deposition in September that no one had informed MLB about Kay’s drug use. On Monday, he explained that he “obtained additional information” about the Los Angels’ communications with MLB after giving a statement. He said he did not remember the exact document where he obtained this information.
Kay’s immediate superior, Tim Meadand the travel secretary of Los Angels, Tom Taylortestified at the beginning of the trial that Abell worked with Kay, but did not mention having reported his case to the MLB.
Team doctor Milhouse testified that he believed Abell, the team’s sports psychologist, was the liaison to MLB for such matters. MLB documents indicate that players’ drug problems were the subject of investigation and disciplinary follow-up by the MLB commissioner’s office.
While Los Angels officials testified that they never saw Kay use illicit drugs, former clubhouse employee Kris Constanti testified that Kay told him he was taking Norco. Another former clubhouse employee, Vince Willet, testified that he saw Kay crush and then snort a pill in the Angels’ clubhouse kitchen during spring training.
The former clubhouse manager, Keith Tartertestified that he suspected Kay of using drugs and that Kay told him in 2019 that he was worried because his supply of Suboxone, a medication to treat opioid dependency, was running out. Tarter testified that he never saw Kay use drugs.
Milhouse testified that he did not learn of the true addictive nature of opioids until 2014 or 2015. He stopped prescribing them to Kay in 2013.
Camela Kay testified that after her ex-husband suffered a nervous breakdown at Yankee Stadium that same year, she testified in front of Taylor and Mead that she took five Vicodin a day. Taylor denied it and Mead said he did not remember the conversation. Milhouse also testified that between 2009 and 2013 he generally only prescribed short-term opioids and had given other patients treatments and doses similar to Kay’s. Milhouse testified that he considered using opioids five times a day to constitute an addiction.
The trial will continue this week in Orange County Superior Court. Witnesses include Skaggs’ widow, Carli, and his mother, Debbie Hetman.
Two jurors have already been excused, leaving two alternates for the rest of the case, which is scheduled to go to the jury in mid-December.
