New report details additional allegations of misconduct within Mets franchise

A new report published by The Athletic on Friday details additional allegations of inappropriate behavior by a current and former member of the New York Mets franchise. 

The report focuses on allegations regarding former executive producer for content and marketing Joe DeVito and chief marketing, content and communications officer David Newman. 

At least two women who worked with DeVito spoke to team lawyers describing incidents they considered to be sexual harassment, according to The Athletic. DeVito is accused of sending inappropriate text messages to women and giving one woman an unsolicited back rub.

Newman, who was rehired to his current position in November, is accused of making inappropriate comments about women's appearances while with the team from 2005-18. He told The Athletic he didn't recall making such comments. 

The report also details allegations against former Mets manager Mickey Callaway, who is accused of sending and soliciting lewd photos to multiple sports media members. He is also accused of acting inappropriately toward women while working with the Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels.

More than a dozen people told The Athletic that Holly Lindvall, Mets senior vice president of human resources and diversity, was aware of the complaints and didn't take action against the perpetrators. 

Mets president Sandy Alderson told The Athletic qthat the portrayal of how the franchise is handling the allegations is unfair. 

"Let me try to make a point as strongly as I can, OK? Not every instance involving men, women in the workplace is a capital offense, OK? Every time something happens, it doesn't mean somebody has to be fired," Alderson said. "There are a lot of intermediate steps that can be taken, and we've done that in a variety of different cases. And have included capital punishment as a consequence in some cases, but not every case rises to the level of execution. And that's what honestly I think is happening with these articles."

The allegations are a part of an ongoing pattern of inappropriate behavior within the Mets organization. In March, Mets owner Steve Cohen announced that a law firm had been hired to conduct a review on "workplace culture … with a focus on sexual harassment, misconduct and discrimination issues."

It came after general manager Jared Porter was fired following an ESPN report detailing explicit and unsolicited text message he sent to a female reporter in 2016 while he was working for the Chicago Cubs.