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Mets fire hitting coordinator years after 3 complaints of sexual harassment

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Warning: Story contains graphic content

New York Mets hitting coordinator Ryan Ellis was fired by the club in January "for violating company policy and failure to meet the Mets' standards for professionalism and personal conduct," years after being investigated for inappropriate behavior toward three female Mets employees, reports The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli, Ken Rosenthal, and Katie Strang.

The three women, who worked or had previously worked for the Mets, went to the team's human resources department about Ellis in 2018.

One of the women who went to the Mets' HR department documented some of what Ellis said in her journal. In one instance, she said Ellis told her "I stare at your ass all the time. If only I could have 15 minutes alone with you" when they were alone in a vehicle together, adding that he wanted "to put her up against a wall."

"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," the Mets said in a statement. "We immediately commenced a new investigation and terminated the employee on January 22."

The Mets did not say what new information emerged. Asked what the team had previously been told about Ellis, the club responded:

"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."

The third woman who spoke to HR in 2018 said the Mets didn't contact her until 2021. She said the team asked about the sexual relationship she'd had with Ellis in 2017 and not the harassment she'd described experiencing after ending the relationship.

The Mets hired Porter as general manager in December and fired him in January after he admitted sending unsolicited, explicit images to a female reporter in 2016 while he was an employee of the Chicago Cubs.

Another former Mets employee, Mickey Callaway, was recently suspended by the Los Angeles Angels after a report that he'd behaved in a lewd manner toward five women who worked in sports media. The incidents date back to when he was Mets manager and pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians.

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