Lawyer argues Angels responsible for Skaggs' overdose death - ESPN

SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels should be held responsible for the drug overdose death of one of its pitchers because the team failed to follow its own drug policies and let an addicted and drug dealing employee stay on the job and have access to the players, a lawyer for the pitcher's family said on Tuesday.

The allegations came in opening statements of the long-awaited civil trial in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the wife and parents of Tyler Skaggs. The family contends that the MLB team should be held responsible for the 27-year-old pitcher's death after its communication director, Eric Kay, was convicted of providing the fentanyl-tainted pill that led to Skaggs' fatal overdose on a team trip to Texas in 2019.

Plaintiffs' attorney Shawn Holley told jurors that Angels officials knew Kay was addicted to opioids and showing up high to work, and providing drugs to at least six players including Skaggs. Holley said the Angels repeatedly failed to follow the team's drug policies when it came to Kay, even assigning him to accompany the team to Texas soon after he had gone through rehab, but fully enforced the rules when it came to lower-level employees who had stadium jobs.

«They buried their heads in the sand over and over and over again, and as a result Tyler Skaggs is dead,» Holley told jurors.

Lawyers for the Angels, who will address the jury later on Tuesday, contend that despite Kay's conviction, the autopsy results showed Skaggs had also been drinking and taking oxycodone when he died, and was snorting painkillers instead of taking them as they would be prescribed. The team also argues that Skaggs and Kay were off duty and the player's actions in the privacy of his hotel room could not have been