Former Major League Baseball great Kenny Lofton might be bugging in his personal life. An ex-employee is suing the six-time MLB All-Star for what seems like wrongful termination after allegedly telling the HR department of Lofton’s companies that the MLB great was sending pictures of his private parts in the DMs of social media.
What in the Louisville Slugger?
The former employee is named Brandyn Toney, allegedly hired by Lofton in 2021 to an investment firm and NFT marketplace that the four-time Gold Glove winner co-owned. TMZ reports that according to documents it obtained, Toney claims that he began employment at two of Lofton’s companies, Centerblock Asset Management LLC and Proxime Corporation, in December 2021 with a purported salary of $85,000.
However, Toney claims that issues began to arise months after he began. He alleges that he was never paid for his work and was told by a female employee hired to monitor Lofton’s Instagram account that the former center fielder had been DMing pics of his privates to women on the ‘Gram. Toney claims he was told this on June 8.
Once Toney made a complaint to Lofton’s human resources department, which an in-house attorney oversaw, he was allegedly fired mere hours after submitting the complaint; two hours to be specific.
Now Toney is taking his grievances to court, suing Lofton, his two companies, and other employees in the organizations. He believes that the termination of his employment was only retaliation for his reporting of Lofton’s highly unlofty behaviors: sending d*ck pics and not paying him the wages owed for the work he provided. Toney is seeking damages and more items in the lawsuit.
“Lofton and his executive team thought they could fire our client for objecting to obvious sexual misconduct and even thought they could get away with not paying him for his work,” Toney’s attorney, Ronald L. Zambrano, told TMZ. “That speaks to the arrogance and dysfunction at play every day at Centerblock and Proxime.”
Kenny Lofton, a native of East Chicago, Indiana, first started as a basketball player and received a scholarship to the University of Arizona to hoop. Ironically, he started his collegiate career at the guard position during his sophomore year to replace an injured teammate: future five-time NBA champion, and coach of four of the Golden State Warriors’ championships Steve Kerr.
August 20, 2000: Two Words ⚾️
1. Coopers. 2. Town.
Tribe's Kenny Lofton has career-high 6 RBI in #ForTheland 12-4 W vs. #SeaUsRise. 2 HRs (including a Grand Salami). Btw – how many times has there been damn squirrel in Jacobs Field?#Kenny 7⃣ #6RBI #HoF #Squirrel pic.twitter.com/LpqM5DzqnM— On This Day: Cleveland Sports (@CityfanC) August 20, 2022
He played a vital sixth-man role in his third season as Arizona reached the Final Four of the 1988 NCAA tournament. However, he began a path towards inevitability when he started playing for the Arizona Wildcats baseball team as a junior. He excelled and was signed by the Houston Astros as a 17th-round pick in the 1988 amateur draft by midyear.
Eventually, the 55-year-old played in the majors for under two decades for eleven teams and the now Cleveland Guardians on three different occasions and ten of his 17 seasons. He finished his pro career with 130 home runs, 781 RBIs, 2,428 hits, 622 stolen bases, and 945 walks. However, he still is not in the Hall of Fame.
His stats did not make him a lock for induction; according to mlb.com, “it was surprising that the former center fielder didn’t receive enough votes to stay on the ballot for more than one year.”
