The parents of the Jackie Robinson West players have filed a lawsuit against an ESPN reporter, the Little League Baseball, and the whistleblower after the baseball team was ripped off of its national championship in 2014.
A lawsuit against the defendant were filed by the parents of the 13 members of the team. As reported by ABC News, the lawsuit claims that officials of the Little League Baseball "concealed the ineligibility of team members in order to reap the benefits of notoriety and media attention", while they also claim that ESPN reporter Stephen Smith defamed them in one show.
The story of the Jackie Robinson West players started as a feel-good story when the African-American players rose to fame as they won the national championship title. However, according to Chicago Tribune, everything changed when an opposing coach, Chris Janes, revealed that some of the players lived outside the league's boundaries.
The lawsuit was filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. It stated that whistleblower, Chris Janes, violated their privacy by tracing license plates to the home address of the players. It also argued that the Little League officials never brought up the issue of the residency of the players and "concealed the ineligibility of the JRW team members in order to reap the benefits of notoriety and media attention."
According to Yahoo, ESPN's Stephen Smith was also involved in the lawsuit for defamation. The lawsuit claims that Smith made remarks during an appearance in an episode of the show, First Take, where he suggested that Darold Butler fabricated documents of some of the ineligible members of the Jackie Robinson West.
Spokesmen for Little League International and ESPN have not released their statements as they have not reviewed the lawsuit yet. Meanwhile, Janes called the lawsuit "laughable" in one interview.
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