NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY For release: February 3, 2000 ======================================= Did baseball break anti-discrimination law by suspending racist John Rocker? WASHINGTON, DC -- Major League Baseball may have violated federal law by suspending John Rocker -- because if the loudmouth pitcher's bigoted opinions are caused by a "mental illness," then he's protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Libertarian Party noted today. "It sounds crazy, but if John Rocker is a crazy bigot, then it's a federal crime to discriminate against him in any way," said Steve Dasbach, the party's national director. "Even more amazing, if John Rocker is crazy, then Major League Baseball must make 'reasonable accommodations' for his prejudices -- which could include keeping foreigners and homosexuals away from him -- so he can continue to pitch." On Monday, baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced that Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker will be suspended until May 1, fined $20,000, and ordered to attend sensitivity training. Rocker sparked a firestorm of controversy in December when he was quoted in Sports Illustrated criticizing homosexuals, foreigners who don't speak English, people with "purple hair," Asian women drivers, toll booths, criminals, and young mothers with many children. Although he promptly apologized, Rocker was ordered to undergo psychological testing -- and that's where the League got into trouble, said Dasbach. "As long as John Rocker was just an ordinary bigot, then the League can discipline him as it sees fit -- within the limits of his contract, of course," said Dasbach. "And that makes sense: As a business that relies on the goodwill of the public, professional baseball should be able to set standards of conduct for its employees. "But the federal government doesn't agree. Thanks to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), you can fire a sane bigot -- but it's illegal to discriminate against a crazy bigot. So, if those psychological tests determine that John Rocker's bigotry is caused by mental illness, then he will be protected by the full power and might of the federal government." Sounds too preposterous to be true? It's not. In March 1997, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a ruling to protect "mentally ill or emotionally unstable" employees from discrimination. The EEOC's guidelines could have had Rocker in mind, said Dasbach: Employees may be mentally ill or emotionally unstable if they display, for example, "consistently high levels of hostility," rude behavior, or chronically bad judgment, according to the government. "Under those guidelines, John Rocker appears to have hit a home run: He's hostile, rude, and he displays poor judgment," said Dasbach. "Thanks to the EEOC, he should qualify for maximum job protection." And Major League Baseball may qualify for a maximum lawsuit: Not only is it illegal to discriminate against crazy people, it's also illegal to require them to take tests to find out if they are mentally ill, or to ask them if they are mentally ill -- even if the employee is visibly disturbed. So what should employers do when they have a John Rocker-type person on the payroll? Make "reasonable accommodations" for them, says the EEOC. In its 1997 ruling, the EEOC said government-mandated accommodations for mentally ill people might include barriers to protect "distracted" employees from noise, or reassigning co-workers away from a "paranoid" person. "Under these guidelines, if Mr. Rocker is crazy, baseball has to make sure that he can continue to practice his federally protected bigotry, free from interference," said Dasbach. "Perhaps the League could start by banning homosexuals, foreigners, people with purple hair, Asian women, criminals, and young mothers from his games?" And more good news for John Rocker: If found guilty of an ADA violation, Major League Baseball could be forced to pay up to $300,000 in damages -- and still be liable for millions in civil lawsuits. "Thanks to the federal government, being a crazy bigot could turn out to be more lucrative for Mr. Rocker than playing professional baseball," said Dasbach. "Given all the advantages of being crazy, he'd have to be crazy not to be crazy."