Elgin Baylor sues the Clippers

By Jason Wojciechowski on February 12, 2009 at 5:20 AM

Dear Elgin Baylor:

You were not discriminated against based on your age. You were not discriminated against based on your race. You were not paid less than anyone else because you were old and black. In fact, you weren't old when you were hired, which is presumably when you first started being paid very little. (I'm cognizant that I'm skirting close to Ledbetter issues here.)

No, you were discriminated against because you were terrible at your job. How many championships in 22 years? How many playoff series wins? How many playoff appearances? How many winning seasons? Since 1986-87 (which I think is when Baylor's term began), the Clips have made the playoffs four times. They've won one series. They'd had two winning seasons. (They made the playoffs once with a .500 record and once with 36 wins.)

It's very easy to win a discrimination claim as a defendant, and this case is easy unless there's some kind of smoking gun. A Donald Sterling memo talking about needing a white GM or something. That's unlikely to exist, though, so you've got to figure this thing is bound for cheap settlement (nuisance value) or summary judgment.