Mets quietly fire coach Ryan Ellis years after 3 women accuse him of sexual harassment: report

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Complaints of sexual harassment continue to plague the New York Mets organization after a report on Wednesday revealed that hitting performance coach Ryan Ellis was quietly let go last month for sexual harassment claims made against him by three women in the summer of 2018. 

The women, who either worked for or had previously been employed by the Mets, detailed the allegations to The Athletic. One woman kept a journal documenting the alleged encounters with Ellis. 

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One victim claimed that Ellis explicitly told her, “I stare at your ass all the time. If only I could have 15 minutes alone with you.” She also alleged that he said he wanted to “put her up against a wall.”

Another woman recalled that after she ended a brief sexual relationship with Ellis in 2017, he sent several “unwanted” text messages to her that were sexual in nature. The third woman said that she reported Ellis after he would call her late at night to ask if her boyfriend was home. She also noted that she would often see him make “sexually suggestive comments to her and other low-level female employees,” according to the report. 

All three women said they reported the incidents to then-employee relations manager Aubrey Wechsler, who is still currently with the organization. 

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The Mets confirmed Ellis’ firing, stating that it came on the heels of former general manager Jared Porter’s firing on Jan. 19 after reports emerged that he had sent unsolicited and explicit photos to a female reporter in 2016. 

“On January 19 of this year, following the termination of Jared Porter, we received new information regarding conduct of the disciplined employee in the 2017-2018 timeframe. We immediately commenced a new investigation and terminated the employee on January 22 for violating company policy and failure to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct,” the statement to The Athletic read.

“In July 2018, a complaint regarding inappropriate conduct by a Mets employee was brought to the attention of Mets management at that time. The organization initiated an investigation and, as a result, the employee was disciplined, put into a probationary status, and ordered into counseling. We had not received previous or subsequent complaints about this employee.”

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It’s not immediately clear what the “new information” was that prompted the firing but it came just days after new owner Steve Cohen fired GM Jared Porter after an ESPN report revealed that he was inappropriately texting a female journalist over the course of several weeks when he worked as the Chicago Cubs’ director of professional scouting back in 2016. 

Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway was also accused last month of sexually harassing female media members over the course of five years.

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