Overview
- Both sides reached a confidential agreement on Dec. 19, ending a roughly three-month civil trial that featured 31 court days and more than 40 witnesses.
- Jurors had asked to revisit financial expert testimony and how to handle punitive damages, and some later said they had found the Angels negligent and were discussing awards in the tens of millions up to about $100 million.
- The lawsuit alleged the team knew or should have known former communications director Eric Kay was supplying opioids to players, while the Angels denied negligence and argued Kay acted outside his job and that Skaggs concealed his drug use.
- Skaggs, 27, died in 2019 after ingesting a fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pill along with alcohol, with the coroner citing terminal aspiration; Kay was convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
- The settlement avoids a public verdict that could have set a precedent on team liability, and it follows MLB policy changes on opioid testing and treatment after Skaggs' death.