The MA Commission Against Discrimination issued what "it
called the civil equivalent of an indictment" against the Red
Sox stemming from a former employees' claim of racial
harassment by the team, according to Adrian Walker of the
BOSTON GLOBE. MCAD Chair Charles Walker said that the
agency's inquiry into Thomas Sneed's claim "turned up enough
evidence for the case to go forward." He "urged" the team
and Sneed to settle, but a Red Sox attorney said Sneed's
demands "have been unreasonable, and indicated that
settlement may not be near." Sneed has accused the Red Sox
of "allowing a hostile work environment" during his seven-
year stint with the team and claims that management did not
respond to his reports of harassment incidents. Red Sox
attorney Daniel Goldberg released a list yesterday of actions
the team took, but "seemed pessimistic that this case will be
settled soon." Goldberg claims that Sneed had asked for 100
times his salary of "about" $30,000 a year, a number which
Sneed's attorneys deny (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/8).
SETTLE OR ELSE? In Boston, Joan Vennochi writes that
"despite the bluster" of Goldberg, a "trial is the last thing
this ball club wants." As they pursue a new ballpark and try
to "convince the public they have changed from the closed-
minded institution of 30 years ago," the Red Sox "don't need
embarrassing headlines of the kind that could emanate from a
case like Sneed's" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/8).
