Dodgers Seek to Settle Dispute Over Injured Pitcher

A retired Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher is at the center of a $3 million dispute between the Major League Baseball team and insurance giant Hartford Life Insurance Co.

The dispute concerns ex-Dodger Paul Shuey, who, the Los Angeles Times reports, underwent hip surgery in October 2003. He tore a tendon in his thumb in March 2004 and had a second hip surgery that July, leaving him in the dugout for the whole 2004 season. In court papers, the Dodgers’ attorneys said the team remained on the hook for Shuey’s 2004 season salary of $3.25 million and therefore filed a claim to draw insurance proceeds from Hartford. The insurer, however, said Shuey wasn’t totally disabled when his coverage expired, pointing to the multiple injuries the pitcher received over the span of nearly a year.

The Dodgers later sued to force Hartford to cover its claim, and the lawsuit has been ordered into arbitration. The team is asking the bankruptcy court where it’s currently under Chapter 11 protection to let it proceed with the arbitration, in which it will ask for up to $3 million, $1.7 million of which is for contract damages.

Court papers show the team and Hartford have struck a deal as to what’s on the table in arbitration: whether Shuey was “totally disabled” while the policy was in effect and the amount of benefits, if any, the Dodgers are entitled to. Both sides agreed that no one will get attorneys’ fees covered through the arbitration.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., will weigh in on the matter at a Jan. 11 hearing.