Former Twins Scout Sues Team

[Seth Stohs]

KSTP news is reporting that former, long-time Twins international scout Howie Norsetter is suing the team saying that he was terminated because of age discrimination. 

 

Here is a tweet from KSTP's Doogie Wolfson:

 

https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/1055208710820257793 

 

I would think it would be difficult for Norsetter to win, but it certainly could get interesting. 

[Mr. Brooks]

If he was instrumental in signing Nishioka, then he has no case.

 

Ok, that was kind of a joke, but unless they were dumb enough to say out loud, or in writing, that they were firing him because of his age, which I highly doubt, then he has no chance.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

If he was instrumental in signing Nishioka, then he has no case.

Ok, that was kind of a joke, but unless they were dumb enough to say out loud, or in writing, that they were firing him because of his age, which I highly doubt, then he has no chance.

 

I was going to say something similar.  If Nishi was a big name on his list, all the team really needs to do is point to those types of things. 

 

Given the team's direction in analytics, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if he wasn't buying the company line there, that's why he's gone... and that's what they will say in court if it gets there.

[Twodogs]

Well it happens a lot where a company settles for a hundred grand or so knowing that it will cost more to pay the lawyers to fight it. So they give them a payout to make it go away.

[Vanimal46]

'Murica. Land of the free, home of the lawsuit.

[Thrylos]

Interesting.   MacPhail and Ryan hired him as an international scout for the Phillies after he was let go by the Twins, so it is not like he is unemployed or anything...

[nicksaviking]

He was a pretty high profile scout, I wonder what he was being paid. Perhaps there was an anaylitics issue, though I wouldn’t want to stereotype.

 

Seems to me these things happen in the corporate world all the time. If a company can pay two or three upstarts with a more modern education to do the same job, it wouldn’t be economical not to make the switch.

 

I feel bad he lost his job but I’m glad the Phillies are letting him continue if that’s what he wants. I’d think this a societal issue though, not a Twins-specific issue.

[Aerodeliria]

In Nishioka's defense--and not to defend Norsetter because I don't know the details--he was a decent player (not great for sure) with one particularly good year following which the Twins signed him, but the Twins clearly didn't understand how Japanese players approach the game or if they did, they certainly showed few visible signs that they knew what they were getting into.

 

IMHO, Nishioka was a marginalized as a player from the first day because he failed to demonstrate the kind of 'individual aggression' that is expected from players who come up to the majors through the minor league system. Whether it seems fair or not, it is poor judgment to consider Japanese players as 'plug-n-play.' They always care about the team because the team is supposed to care about them. Listen to the interviews given by Tanaka or Maeda--they always look at their success or failure in light of how it affected the team. (I know in an idyllic world, all baseball teams play as teams, but individual successes are always at the heart of the matter; this is generally not the case in Japan, and this is one of the reasons some American players play so poorly here in Japan while those who understand and make appropriate adjustments to their style can thrive. The movie 'Mr. Baseball,' which is loaded with cliches and stereotypes, still pointed to this notion in a fairly accurate manner.) I will also note here that this concept is slowly changing--but very slowly. With that said, there are certain players now who could make the jump to the majors without having to make the kinds of cultural adjustments that I feel that Nishioka had to make. (This points to another problem for small-market teams importing players from Japan--namely that there aren't systems in place to support them--such as a Japanese fan base). In particular, the Yomiuri Giants have a shortstop who I really hope comes to the major leagues soon (Sakamoto). He is very confident and I believe he could make the adjustment to the majors relatively easily--even the Twins (hope, hope, hope). He's a great hitter and fielder who seems to thrive in high-leverage situations.

 

Sorry for rambling and going a bit off topic, but the Nishioka thing has always bugged me a little.

[old nurse]

Details are scarce.  The KSTP story said that he was told job performance was not the issue. Older workers are a protected class. An organization just can't fire them and replace them. If the new job description looks very close to the old one Norsetter has a case.It has been almost a year. My guess would be they would have filed an EEO complaint. The EEO will rule in favor of one party as the evidence is very strong or they will say they do not have the resources so file a complaint with the Feds. If the EEO ruled for the Twins, a decent lawyer would say nice try but move on. If the lawsuit is frivolous the defendants can recover costs. Considering that the Twins were notoriously cheap, Norsetters salary would have been closer to 50K than 100K That would be a lot of his money gone to pay for 2 lawyers. He likely has a case.

[TheLeviathan]

Seems flimsy.

[rdehring]

Always liked Norsetter, whom I believe was the chief International Scout at the end of his run with the Twins.  Were several reasons, including the fact he seemed to own Australia with so many good signings over the years.  He also had many interesting signings from Taiwan, as well as several European signings including those mentioned above.  If I recall, he was a Madison West High School grad.  That's the same school my wife attended, although she would have been there well before Howie.  

 

Doubt age had anything to do with his departure as the new group was in the process of a complete makeover of the organization.  Doesn't mean he can't use age as a reason to get a few, or more, bucks from the Twins.

 

I can't imagine what his life had to be like...being in Perth, Australia one day looking at Luke Hughes, then off to Germany a few days later before jetting off to Taiwan to look at some 15 year old pitcher.  Sure doesn't give one time for a family back home...where ever that was.  So I guess if he can recoup a few bucks from the Twins, probably reasonable to say he has earned it!

 

[old nurse]

 

Seems flimsy.

It does until you know people who have been through the process.

[jctwins]

I'm just glad we have a reason to talk about T-Nish again.

[d-mac]

 

If he was instrumental in signing Nishioka, then he has no case.

Ok, that was kind of a joke, but unless they were dumb enough to say out loud, or in writing, that they were firing him because of his age, which I highly doubt, then he has no chance.

 

Lol I was just going to say the same thing.

[jkcarew]

As has been mentioned above, it's not about winning.  It's about settling.  I don't necessarily think this is particularly newsworthy...but it wouldn't surprise me at all that this costs the Twins some money.

[yarnivek1972]

As has been mentioned above, it's not about winning. It's about settling. I don't necessarily think this is particularly newsworthy...but it wouldn't surprise me at all that this costs the Twins some money.

Simply going to court to defend themselves would cost them money. So, that’s a certainty.

[gunnarthor]

If they did discriminate against him, I hope he gets a big settlement.

[Badsmerf]

All I could think about this whole thread is watching Nishi attempt to turn a double play... my favorite part of the Nishioka era was Naoko.

[TheLeviathan]

 

It does until you know people who have been through the process.

 

Could you clarify what you mean by this?