More than six years after the overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, the Los Angeles Angels reached a settlement Friday of the wrongful death lawsuit brought against them by his family.
The Angels’ ex-communication director, Eric Kay, began serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison in 2022 for two counts relating to Skaggs’ death. But the family alleged in their $118 million suit that Skaggs died in part because the Angels “allowed a drug user, a drug addict and a drug dealer” to remain employed with them.
If found negligent, the Angels would have become the first professional franchise in U.S. sports to be held civilly liable for a player’s death.
“The Skaggs family has reached a confidential settlement with Angels Baseball that brings to a close a difficult six-year process, allowing our families to focus on healing,” the Skaggs family said in a statement distributed by their attorneys Friday. “We are deeply grateful to the members of this jury, and to our legal team. Their engagement and focus gave us faith, and now we have finality. This trial exposed the truth and we hope Major League Baseball will now do its part in holding the Angels accountable. While nothing can bring Tyler back, we will continue to honor his memory.”
The terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed.
The family asserted that the organization knew of Kay’s drug abuse, which it alleges contributed to Skaggs dying of an accidental overdose in 2019 at age 27. The Angels have continually denied knowledge that Skaggs had a drug problem or that Kay was distributing drugs to players.
The civil trial in a California courtroom began in October and included testimony from the likes of Angels star outfielder Mike Trout, a longtime teammate and roommate of Skaggs. Friday marked the fourth day of jury deliberations, during which the jury requested guidance from the court on whether they “get to decide” an amount in punitive damages.
It’s not clear whether the Angels will face discipline from Major League Baseball. During the trial, a team vice president testified that Kay “was drug tested under the MLB policy, not the Angels’ policy” and the league was involved in treating his addiction, which MLB has denied.
