FLUSHING — The Mets fear that a legal filing highlighting Citi Field security cuts poses a safety risk to its ballpark staff and fans, new court documents claim.
The club filed legal papers last month in Queens Supreme Court in hopes of getting a judge to remove from the public eye exhibits in a job discrimination case, calling them “confidential information” that could threaten stadium operations.
“If this information remains in the public record, it could have catastrophic consequences as individuals could use this information in an effort to circumvent the security protocols currently in place to cause serious harm to the patrons of the stadium and the thousands of workers,” Mets senior vice president Michael Landeen says in an affidavit accompanying the club’s filing.
The job discrimination case involves Citi Field’s former director of event staff and five security supervisors — all of whom were fired after the 2013 Major League Baseball season.
The six ex-employees claim that Queens Ballpark Co., a Mets subsidiary that oversees Citi Field operations, wrongfully terminated them because of their age or sex.
The fired workers filed a petition on March 13 against the state Division of Human Rights after the agency ruled their discrimination complaints were unfounded. The petition seeks to overturn the Human Rights Division’s decision.
DNAinfo New York first reported in March that one of the exhibits in the petition was a budget report that then-event staff director, Bruce Smith, prepared for the Mets vice president of security. The report outlined drastic cuts to security personnel between 2009 and 2013 and specified how pared-down staffing affected certain sections of the Citi Field.
“Due to the cut backs in the budget (2013) we will be unable to maintain the high quality of security that the ballplayers, guests and staff are accustom [sic] to,” Smith wrote in the report. “In addition the greetings at the gates, exchange of pleasantries at the gates and along with the quailty [sic) of the seaching (sic) at the gates will be reduced.”
In its April 16 filing, Mets asked for an emergency injunction sealing the exhibit and other documents that revealed personal information about employees, including Social Security numbers. A judge denied the request on April 22, noting that the Mets’ filing was insufficient and the request was too broad.
Mets executive Landeen said in his affidavit that the exhibits in the job discrimination case “could create the perception of vulnerability that might invite improper conduct.”
Landeen described the information in the case as “not necessarily accurate or current” but stated that it shows security procedures at the stadium, including “the number of security personnel stationed at each entrance/exit during various periods of time.”
The Mets’ filing says that its lawyers tried to negotiate an agreement to seal the documents with Frederick Brewington, the attorney for the six fired employees. But they couldn’t reach a deal. That's when they went to the judge.
“There is a very real possibility that this information could be used in an effort to harm those who patronize the stadium on an almost daily basis,” the Mets say in the filing.
The club did not respond to questions about what was inaccurate in Smith's budget report.
"While details of our security are by their very nature confidential, the security of all who enter Citi Field is top priority," the team said in a statement.
Brewington did not respond to a request for comment.
The Mets have previously said that the six employees were fired after an internal investigation found that Smith had altered time cards for himself and other employees. Smith denies the charge.
