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"A former batting practice pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies who was fired from his<br /><br />position after nearly four-and-a-half years of employment is suing the professional sports team and its manager for defamation.<br /><br />Ali Modami, who worked for the organization from May 2007 to October 2011, claims in his civil action that Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., named as a co-defendant in the case, smeared his name and prevented the plaintiff from obtaining work at other sports teams.<br /><br />Modami is being represented by Philadelphia lawyer Sidney L. Gold, who filed the defamation suit Nov. 5 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.<br /><br />According to the complaint, Modami was called by Amaro in October of last year to inform the plaintiff that his job would be terminated immediately, allegedly because the team was &ldquo;going in a different direction,&rdquo; and was attempting to &ldquo;change up the hitting program.&rdquo;<br /><br />Following his firing, Modami contacted friends who were employed as baseball players for two other professional teams to inquire about seeking new employment.<br /><br />In late 2011, Modami received a phone call from Don Mattingly, a manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who applauded the plaintiff&rsquo;s credentials, and said he was interested in bringing Modami aboard, the lawsuit states.<br /><br />About a month later, Modami called Ned Colletti, the Dodgers&rsquo; general manager, to follow up on the potential employment issue, at which time the plaintiff was told the team&rsquo;s bankruptcy proceedings were inhibiting many of the team&rsquo;s hiring decisions.<br /><br />In early January of this year, Modami received a text message from friend Jayson Werth, a former Phillies player currently contracted with the Washington Nationals, which said a potential job opportunity with the Nationals appeared to be dead as well, the suit states.<br /><br />During a subsequent phone conversation, Werth disclosed to Modami that the Nationals&rsquo; manager had spoken with the Phillies&rsquo; Amaro, who &ldquo;maliciously and/or intentionally, and without privilege or justification, communicated false and misleading information about Plaintiff Modami and the circumstances surrounding the termination of his employment with the Phillies,&rdquo; the complaint states.<br /><br />Specifically, Amaro allegedly and falsely told the Nationals&rsquo; manager that Modami had stolen and sold memorabilia, and was writing negative things about the Phillies on the Internet.<br /><br />&ldquo;Said actions constituted an intentional and purposeful effort on behalf of the Defendants to prevent and/or interfere with Plaintiff Modami&rsquo;s prospective employment with the Nationals,&rdquo; the lawsuit states.<br /><br />Modami never engaged in any of the conduct he was accused of doing by Amaro, the suit claims.<br /><br />The same accusations were made to the Dodgers, the complaint alleges, which prevented Modami from obtaining employment with that team as well.<br /><br />&ldquo;Based upon the foregoing, Plaintiff Modami believes and avers that Defendants&rsquo; publication of the aforementioned defamatory comments caused significant injury to Plaintiff Modami&rsquo;s reputation and character and intentionally interfered with his prospective employment relationships, thereby depriving him of future income and earnings,&rdquo; the complaint states.<br /><br />The lawsuit contains counts of defamation, slander, and tortious interference with prospective business relations.<br /><br />Modami says he has sustained emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, difficulty in obtaining gainful employment and a loss of earnings and future earning power as a result of the defendants&rsquo; conduct.<br /><br />Modami seeks more than $100,000 in damages as well as a jury trial.<br /><br />&nbsp;<br /><br /><em>The case ID number is 121100135.&nbsp;</em>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://pennrecord.com/stories/510552605-phillies-sued-by-former-batting-practice-pitcher-for-defamation>