Lorena Martin Sues Mariners over Alleged Racial, Gender Discrimination

Former Seattle Mariners high-performance director Dr. Lorena Martin has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the team and accused them of racial bias and gender discrimination. 

Per Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, Martin said in the suit she informed multiple members of the Mariners' front office—owners John Stanton and Buck Ferguson and CEO Kevin Mather—about alleged discriminatory treatment going back to March. 

Martin, who was fired by the team on Oct. 10, posted on Instagram last month that she "witnessed and heard first hand" comments from general manager Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais and director of player development Andy McKay that Latinos were "lazy, dumb and stupid."

Her lawsuit states "several Latino players complained to Martin about feeling excluded," and Dipoto and Servais "took midseason steps to deliberately undermine the progress and mental state" of pitcher Felix Hernandez. 

The Mariners responded to Martin's November allegations with an official statement:

"While it is our policy to not comment on personnel issues, we do feel it is important to respond to the outrageous, false claims made by her today on social media. And to note that Martin did not make any of these false allegations until after she was relieved of her duties.

"The Mariners categorically deny that any member of our management or coaching staff made racist remarks regarding any of our players or staff. Additionally, we have not terminated (or threatened to terminate) any trainers during the off-season."

Martin was hired by the Mariners in October 2017 as the organization's first director of high performance. Her duties included coordinating and overseeing all aspects of Seattle's physical and mental health programs for players and staff.