The Seattle Mariners on Monday denied claims of racial discrimination made on social media by Lorena Martin, their former director of high performance.
The team said in a statement that Martin was fired last month, on Oct. 10. The team did not give a reason for her firing.
She had been hired by the team last offseason for the then-newly created position to coordinate “all aspects of the Mariners’ physical and mental training approach of players and staff, including oversight of the entire organization’s medical, strength and conditioning, nutrition and mental skills departments.”
Earlier Monday, Martin made allegations in an Instagram post that general manager Jerry DiPoto, manager Scott Servais and director of player development Andy McKay have called Latino players, especially those from the Dominican Republic, “dumb” and “stupid.”
She said she decided to “speak out because they are firing innocent trainers for trying to do the right thing and because of their color/race.”
The Mariners said in their statement that Martin didn’t “make any of these false allegations” until after her termination.
Our statement regarding Dr. Lorena Martin. pic.twitter.com/5RV4AuKxTE
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) November 13, 2018
“The Mariners categorically deny that any member of our management or coaching staff made racist remarks regarding any of our players or staff. Additionally, we have not terminated (or threatened to terminate) any trainers during the offseason.”
Martin replied on Twitter to the Mariners’ statement, calling it a “breach of contract.”
There was a breach of contract on the Mariners behalf – and I had reported many other discriminatory incidences to HR and other Mariners staff members throughout the season. And yes Leonardo Santiago and Jose Valdez, DR trainers were let go and not given new contracts. #truth
— Lorena Martin (@LMHighPerform) November 13, 2018
“I had reported many other discriminatory incidences to HR and other Mariners staff members throughout the season,” she said.
Before joining the Mariners, Martin was the director of sports performance analytics for the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.