Baseball Lawsuits Today: Bohm, Tatis, and the $185M Settlement

Baseball lawsuits today span far more than the diamond. As of mid-2026, Major League Baseball, its teams, its players, and its business partners are tied up in active litigation over player finances, stadium injuries, wages, age discrimination, privacy, college athlete pay, and the sport’s century-old antitrust exemption. Some cases are just getting started. Others are working through appeals after major rulings. Here is where each of the biggest ones stands.

Alec Bohm Sues His Parents Over Millions

Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm filed suit against his parents, Daniel and Lisa Bohm, on March 25, 2026, in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. He alleges they defrauded him of millions while managing his finances early in his career, funneling money from his personal accounts into four Florida LLCs they controlled and using foundation funds for personal expenses.¹

Bohm is seeking at least $3 million, control of the disputed accounts, and an appointed accountant to audit every transfer his parents made.¹ His lawyers also asked for a preliminary injunction over $528,618 the parents transferred out of a Vanguard brokerage account to cover their own legal fees.²

At a May 28, 2026 hearing, Judge Michael E. Erdos declined to rule on the injunction, finding the funds were not at risk because they were held in trust by the parents’ Florida counsel. The judge stayed arbitration the parents had started in Florida and allowed discovery to proceed in Pennsylvania on jurisdictional questions, including whether the LLCs themselves were formed through fraud. Bohm’s team has filed notice of intent to issue nine subpoenas, including to the Boras Corporation and several financial institutions.³ The parents deny wrongdoing and say they will aggressively defend the claims.¹ The next hearing is scheduled for September 3, 2026.

Fernando Tatis Jr. Fights a $2 Million Advance

San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. is battling Big League Advance, an investment fund he signed with at age 18 in 2017. Under the agreement, Tatis received a $2 million advance in exchange for 10% of his future MLB earnings.⁴

After Tatis stopped paying in 2024, BLA took the dispute to arbitration. In September 2025, arbitrator Anthony J. Carpinello ruled in BLA’s favor and ordered Tatis to pay roughly $3.74 million in principal, interest, fees, and costs. The arbitrator rejected Tatis’s argument that the deal was a predatory consumer loan under California law, noting he would have owed nothing had he never reached the majors.⁴

Tatis then sued BLA in California state court in June 2025, alleging it was an unlicensed lender that violated state consumer protection laws.⁵ On May 22, 2026, San Diego Superior Court Judge Judy S. Bae declined to vacate the arbitration award, ruling Tatis had forfeited his challenges under the California Financing Law by not raising them before arbitration began.⁶ Tatis has said he will appeal, telling reporters on May 23, “Oh, it’s definitely not over.”⁷ As of mid-June 2026 no formal appeal had been filed, and BLA is separately asking the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to confirm the award.

Darin Ruf’s Career-Ending Injury Suit Against the Reds

Former outfielder Darin Ruf sued the Cincinnati Reds in Ohio state court on May 22, 2025, over a June 2, 2023 collision with a tarp roller at Great American Ball Park that he says ended his career. Ruf, then with the Milwaukee Brewers, was chasing a foul ball down the first-base line when he hit the roller, which he alleges was sharp, unpadded metal concealed behind a Gorilla Glue advertising cover.⁸ He was earning $3 million that season and has not played a professional game since.⁹

The Reds tried to move the case to federal court, arguing it was preempted by the MLB collective bargaining agreement. In January 2026, the court rejected that argument, sent the case back to state court, and awarded Ruf $7,350 in fees for the failed removal. As of June 2026, Ruf had filed a motion for leave to amend his complaint in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas.¹⁰

Former Scouts Say They Were Pushed Out for Being Older

Thirty-five former MLB scouts, ages 54 to 86, sued Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB clubs in Benedict v. Manfred, alleging teams used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to fire 51 of 83 scouts aged 40 and older in 2020 and then refused to rehire them as organizations shifted toward analytics.¹¹

On March 26, 2026, U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed the case, ruling the New York court lacked jurisdiction over the 28 teams based outside New York. She rejected the argument that out-of-state clubs were “joint employers” or co-conspirators with the Yankees and Mets, and found the plaintiffs had not shown Manfred’s oversight reached team-level hiring.¹¹ The plaintiffs, having already amended their complaint five times, filed a motion on April 26, 2026 for leave to file a sixth. That motion is pending.¹²

The $185 Million Minor League Wage Settlement

Senne v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, filed in February 2014 by minor leaguers Aaron Senne, Michael Liberto, and Oliver Odle, alleged MLB and its teams violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage laws. At the time, most minor league players earned between $3,000 and $7,500 per season.¹³

MLB agreed to settle for $185 million in July 2022. Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero granted final approval on March 29, 2023, after rejecting MLB’s arguments that minor leaguers were exempt “seasonal workers” and ruling that MLB functioned as a joint employer with its minor league teams.¹³ About 24,000 players from 2009 through 2022 were eligible, with average individual payments of $5,000 to $5,500.¹⁴ A plan for redistributing remaining proceeds was approved in February 2024, with final accounting still ongoing.¹⁵

The case reshaped minor league life. Players unionized in September 2022, and their first collective bargaining agreement, ratified March 31, 2023, raised rookie-level pay from $4,800 to $19,800 and Triple-A minimums from $17,500 to $35,800.¹⁶ Clubs must now provide in-season housing, transportation to the ballpark, and two meals per day, and health insurance continues for two to three months after a release rather than ending the day a player is cut.¹⁷ In return, players gave up the right to challenge their compensation under federal, state, or local minimum wage laws for the five-year life of the agreement.

Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption Survives Another Challenge

The federal antitrust exemption baseball has held since the 1922 Supreme Court ruling in Federal Baseball Club v. National League remains intact. On March 28, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to hear the latest challenge, Cangrejeros de Santurce v. Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, which tested whether the exemption reached the Puerto Rican professional league.¹⁸ The First Circuit had ruled in July 2025 that it did, while noting the Supreme Court itself has previously called the exemption “unrealistic,” “inconsistent,” and “aberrational.”¹⁹

A 2023 challenge from Nostalgic Partners over the contraction of minor league affiliates settled before the Supreme Court decided whether to take it, with MLB reportedly paying a confidential sum.¹⁹ The pattern suggests MLB is prepared to spend to keep the exemption out of the Court’s hands.

House v. NCAA Reshapes College Baseball

House v. NCAA is not an MLB case, but it changes the pipeline. On June 6, 2025, a federal district court approved a roughly $2.8 billion settlement that provides retrospective compensation to former college athletes and allows Division I schools to share revenue directly with current athletes for the first time.²⁰ It also eliminates scholarship caps in equivalency sports like baseball, so schools can now offer full scholarships to every roster player rather than dividing a fixed pool.²¹

Ten women athletes have appealed to the Ninth Circuit, arguing the back-pay allocation violates Title IX because an estimated 90% of the $2.8 billion would go to male athletes, primarily in football and basketball, while some women athletes would receive as little as $125 per year played.²² The appeal has stayed distribution of back-pay damages while the go-forward revenue-sharing provisions remain in effect.²³ The Ninth Circuit is expected to take roughly two years, with a possible Supreme Court petition after that.²⁴

USF Baseball Abuse Cases

Former University of San Francisco baseball players have filed two federal lawsuits against the school and former coaches Nino Giarratano and Troy Nakamura, alleging an abusive and sexually inappropriate environment spanning more than two decades. Nakamura is accused of showering with players, using sexually graphic language, and in one alleged incident crawling naked onto the field. Giarratano is accused of physical abuse, including punching a player in the chest and throwing another to the ground.²⁵

The first suit was filed in March 2022 by three former players, with 11 more joining later. In March 2025, a federal judge denied class certification. Five additional former players filed a separate suit in June 2025 with the same core allegations. USF terminated both coaches after investigations but continues to litigate, saying “the plaintiffs’ most serious allegations have not been borne out by the facts.” No trial date is set, though the court may allow all 19 plaintiffs from both cases to be tried together.²⁵

MLB.tv Privacy Suits Dismissed, Arbitration Coming

Several proposed class actions accused MLB Advanced Media of violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act by sharing MLB.tv subscribers’ Facebook IDs and viewing histories with Meta through a tracking pixel.²⁶ On January 7, 2026, Judge Gregory H. Woods dismissed all three suits with prejudice, relying on the Second Circuit’s ruling in Solomon v. Flipps Media, Inc. that “personally identifiable information” under the VPPA does not include data only a sophisticated technology company could use to identify a consumer. No appeal has been reported.²⁷ Separately, attorneys investigating the same conduct have said they will pursue mass arbitration instead, citing MLB’s mandatory arbitration terms of use.²⁸

Two More Cases Worth Knowing

The MLB players’ union settled its right-of-publicity lawsuit against DraftKings over the unauthorized use of player names and images. The case, filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was dismissed with prejudice in September 2024 after an undisclosed resolution.²⁹

In Cavanaugh v. Fanatics, LLC, a class action filed in Miami-Dade County, Florida, a proposed settlement received preliminary approval on March 30, 2026. The suit alleged Fanatics advertised free or low-cost shipping while charging hidden handling fees on online orders. Class members who file a claim by August 27, 2026 are entitled to two $5 vouchers for use on Fanatics.com. A final approval hearing is set for September 16, 2026.³⁰

1
ESPN. Phillies’ Alec Bohm Sues Parents, Alleges Misuse of Money
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The Philadelphia Inquirer. Alec Bohm Parents Lawsuit Injunction Hearing
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The New York Times Athletic. Alec Bohm Lawsuit Hearing Jurisdiction Phillies
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Front Office Sports. Tatis Jr. Big League Advance Ruling
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Sportico. Fernando Tatis Loses Big League Advance Arbitration
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Sportico. Fernando Tatis Jr. Big League Advance Litigation
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San Diego Union-Tribune. Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. Planning to Appeal After San Diego Judge Rules Against Him
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Sportico. Darin Ruf Cincinnati Reds Lawsuit
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Forbes. Lawsuit by Former Milwaukee Brewer Ruf Is Latest in Line of Field Safety Cases
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Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete. Major League Baseball Continues Its Losing Streak on Labor Preemption Claims
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Sportico. MLB Scouts Age Discrimination Lawsuit Dismissal
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Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Benedict v. Manfred
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Courthouse News Service. Complex $185 Million Major League Baseball Deal Closes Minor Leaguer Pay Saga
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ESPN. MLB Pays $185M to Settle Minor Leaguers’ Minimum Wage Lawsuit
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Court Listener. Senne v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, Docket No. 3:14-cv-00608
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Drexel University News Blog. Minor League Baseball’s Historic Collective Bargaining Agreement
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Baseball America. How Much Are Minor League Baseball Players Paid
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Reuters. US Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Pro Baseball’s Antitrust Shield
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Forbes. Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption Again Nears Possible Supreme Court Review
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Steptoe LLP. Transformative Legal Developments in College Sports and Sports Betting
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Texas Law Review. Conference Employees and Student Athletes
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National Women’s Law Center. NWLC Files Amicus Brief in Support of Women Appealing Settlement Agreement
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Venable LLP. A Settlement That Remains Unsettled – Title IX
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Sportico. NCAA House Settlement Appeal
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San Francisco Chronicle. Former USF Players Sue Ex-Coaches, School
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ClassAction.org. MLB.tv Subscribers’ Personal Data Secretly Given to Facebook, Class Action Says
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ClassAction.org. Henry v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media Dismissal
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ClassAction.org. MLB Data Privacy Lawsuits
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Bloomberg Tax. MLB Players Union, DraftKings Settle Publicity Rights Lawsuit
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ClassAction.org. Fanatics Class Action Settlement Ends Handling Fees Lawsuit