For years, Los Angeles Angels executives ignored obvious signs of on-the-job drug abuse by a team public relations staffer until the employee provided a fatal dose of fentanyl to pitcher Tyler Skaggs six years ago, attorneys for the late hurler's widow and parents told jurors Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Defense attorneys were scheduled to tell jurors their side of the story Tuesday afternoon.
"Tyler Skaggs was a part of the Angels baseball family ... He died because he made a reckless decision to take illicit drugs ... Angels baseball did not know this and we wish he had told us about his problem so we could help him," Angels attorney Todd Theodora told reporters during a lunch break Tuesday.
But plaintiffs' attorney Shawn Holley said the 27-year-old pitcher "died alone in his hotel room" on July 1, 2019, during a road trip to play the Texas Rangers, because the team allowed Eric Kay to remain employed in the public relations department despite behavior "in violation of their own policies" for "dealing drugs to other players" and that team officials "did nothing about it."
Holley said team executives "buried their heads over and over and over again," ignoring Kay's issues.
Kay has been convicted of providing a fatal dose of fentanyl causing death in federal court in Texas and is serving a 22-year prison term.
Skaggs, the only child of Debbie Hetman and Darrell Skaggs, grew up around sports with his mother coaching at Santa Monica High School where Skaggs got the attention of major league scouts and was drafted in the first round by the Angels, Holley said. His parents divorced when he was 4 years-old, but they were "loving and supporting" of him, she added.
Holley said that even in elementary school Skaggs earned a reputation for "stepping up for" classmates without friends, or who were bullied or disabled.
"He was kind to everyone," she said. "He treated everyone the same - - with respect and kindness."
Skaggs also took time to sign autographs for fans and was popular in the clubhouse, Holley said. Skaggs and his wife were together for five years and had been married for seven months when he died, Holley said, adding that the two were planning to start a family.
Holley detailed multiple instances of how Kay, who worked his way up from an intern in 1996 to a key job as a media liaison for players, would show up to work "obviously high" on opioids. One time he took a 90 mph pitch off his leg "for money," and another time was so high he was dancing around with his shirt off, she said.
Holley said a team doctor had been prescribing Kay "powerful opioids" for no medically necessary reason. At one point Kay was taking five pills a day, she said.
Kay "engaged in this horseplay to ingratiate himself to the players," she said.
Kay was also expected to make the players happy, and that included getting restaurant reservations, tickets, tee times and drugs, Holley said.
On one road trip in 2013 against the Yankees, Kay was having an issue "swaying and crying" and had "fear in his eyes," so team traveling secretary Tom Taylor put him on a bus back to his hotel, Holley said.
Kay told Taylor and Angels vice president of communications Tim Mead that he had a serious drug problem and was addicted to Vicodin, Holley said.
"He begged Tim Mead and Tom Taylor for help," the lawyers added. But Kay was never disciplined and there were no consequences, Holley said.
Kay "openly" discussed his drug abuse in emails from the team's server, she said.
In 2015, Kay discussed going to a private drug rehab with the help of the team doctor "on the hush hush," Holley said.
That was a "complete failure," she said.
In 2016, "he relapsed," Holley said.
Kay was seen "snorting lines of drugs" in a team stadium kitchen moments before team owner Arte Moreno walked in, Holley said. Moreno was in the audience for Tuesday's opening statements.
In 2017, Kay's drug abuse was "was so out of control his family staged an intervention," which backfired when Kay angrily denied having a problem, Holley said.
The next day, Mead and Taylor allegedly attempted to convince Kay to check into a drug rehabilitation facility and demanded to know where his drug stash was, and he allegedly showed them where he hid in his home multiple baggies of the pills stuffed in shoe boxes and elsewhere.
That sort of packaging indicates drug dealing, Holley alleged.
Kay faced no consequences and continued selling narcotic painkillers to several players in the team parking lot and elsewhere, Holley said. The players were not excessively using the drugs, just taking enough to deal with pain, she added.
Holley noted how one cleaning woman for the team was "fired on the spot" for drinking a "hard seltzer" on a lunch break and two groundskeepers were suspended for attempting to smoke marijuana on a lunch break.
"But they took no action for their guy," she said.
By January 2019, Kay's drug abuse was "so flagrant," human relations officials advised him to see an addictions specialist, Holley said.
In March of that year, Kay was using the team's email account to find distributors for oxycodone, Holley said.
That same year he showed up to work one day so high that he was vomiting, sweating and "dancing around without his shirt on," Holley said. Taylor took him home and Kay's wife allegedly showed Taylor that he had a bottle of Advil filled with oxycodone.
"She begged the Angels to do something," Holley said.
Kay was taken to a hospital where doctors found "so many drugs in his system they thought he was suicidal," Holley said. Kay was allegedly allowed to do outpatient therapy for a couple of days a week and was back to work in five weeks.
The plaintiffs are seeking $118 million in future earnings damages, plus punitive damages.
Mead is expected to be the first witness following opening statements. Angels star outfielder Mike Trout is expected to testify on Oct. 21.
The plaintiffs allege negligence in the way the team supervised Kay and kept him on the payroll. The team, however, will argue that Kay was not acting "within the scope of his employment" with the club, while denying it was negligent in the way it handled Kay's employment.
Angels attorneys are expected to argue that Skaggs was "comparatively negligent" through his substance abuse problems.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok