Major League Baseball was ordered by a federal judge to give five umpires $3.1 million to cover back pay, interest and medical costs as part of a lawsuit stemming from their failed mass resignation in 1999.
After the Supreme Court declined in January 2005 to hear an appeal of a lower-court ruling, baseball tried last November to give Gary Darling, Bill Hohn, Larry Poncino, Larry Vanover and Joe West more than $1.9 million to cover salary, bonuses and medical costs for September 1999 and the 2000 and 2001 seasons, with management taking a $122,000 credit for the umpires' estimated earnings during that time.
But the umpires instructed their banks to refuse the payments, and they went back to court.
MLB Ordered To Give Umpires $3.1 Million To Cover Back Pay