The family of former Los Angeles Angels Pitcher Tyler Skaggs is filing a lawsuit against the Angels organization after placing blame on former communication director Eric Kay who has admitted to providing Skaggs with opiates.
Skaggs’ widow, Carli Skaggs, and his parents, Darrell and Debbie Skaggs, are filing the suit together.
A quote from Carli Skaggs’ lawsuit says,
“The Angels owed Tyler Skaggs a duty to provide a safe place to work and play baseball. The Angels breached their duty when they allowed Kay, a drug addict, complete access to Tyler. The Angels also breached their duty when they allowed Kay to provide Tyler with dangerous illegal drugs. The Angels should have known Kay was dealing drugs to players. Tyler died as a result of the Angels’ breach of their duties.”
Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room on July 1, 2019. After an autopsy was done it was reported that Skaggs had died due to an accidental drug overdose.
The Angels are calling the lawsuit “baseless and without merit”.
According to a report by ESPN’s T.J. Quinn, Kay had spoken with officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and admitted giving oxycodone to Skaggs. Oxycodone was of course one of the drugs found in Skaggs system at the time of his death.
Kay also told investigators that he had informed officials from the Angels about his drug abuse but Tim Mead, the team’s former vice president of communications denied the allegations from Kay.
“I have had a lot of conversations with Eric Kay about a lot of things, but opioids and Tyler Skaggs were not one of them,” Mead told Quinn, adding he wasn’t aware of Skaggs’ misusing opioids.
Kay and Mead are both named in the lawsuit. Kay was arrested back in August for distributing drugs to Tyler Skaggs.
Flip the page to read the full statement from the Angels regarding the lawsuit.