SANTA ANA, Calif. — A human resources and benefits manager for the Los Angeles Angels testified in her deposition that she was unaware of ex-Angels communications director Eric Kay’s drug abuse, despite numerous texts and email exchanges showing that she was repeatedly notified.
Cecelia Schneider did not testify in person because she was placed on medical leave shortly before the trial; instead, her deposition was played in court on Monday. Schneider had a close relationship with Kay, who is serving 22 years in federal prison. Kay provided the fentanyl-laced pill that Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs ingested, leading to his death on July 1, 2019. Skaggs’ family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Angels in Orange County Superior Court.
Schneider and Kay exchanged numerous “I love you” text messages, according to deposition testimony. Schneider said the two were “work friends.” She was also responsible for approving Kay’s medical leave in April of 2019, shortly after he was hospitalized after being high while at work, according to deposition testimony.
At various points over a two-year period, Schneider was notified of Kay’s drug issues, according to text and email evidence presented during her deposition. And at one point, she even helped him find addiction specialists at his request. She testified that she never alerted her human resources superior Deborah Johnston, and never notified the Angels’ legal team.
On Oct. 1, 2017, Schneider and then-Angels VP for communications Tim Mead were in communication about Kay, with Mead sending her a contact for Camela Kay, Eric’s then-wife, to assist in getting Eric treatment, according to text messages presented during her deposition.
On that day, Schneider received a text from Mead saying “I asked him to give me any drugs he had in his possession. Said he needed some to get through until then.” Schneider was working with Camela to get Eric help, following a failed intervention.
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Schneider testified that, at the time, she was aware that an intervention had been staged for Eric, citing a text message she’d received from Camela.
There was a further 2017 text message between Schneider and Mead where she said she would contact Kaiser Permanente, a health care service, to help get Eric treatment. Schneider texted Mead that she had let Camela know that there were various types of leaves that would apply to Eric, and wouldn’t impact his job.
In her deposition, however, she maintained that she was unaware of why Eric would need to be on leave.
“Thank you my friend, it might be a bumpy road getting there, but it is a road that needs to be traveled,” Mead wrote in a text to Schneider. In her deposition, Schneider said she was not aware that Mead was referring to drugs in this note.
On Jan. 3, 2019, Schneider received an email from Eric Kay, asking her to call him. Thirty minutes later, she sent a follow-up email response, saying, “I found two docs with the specialty you are looking for.”
Both doctors — Dr. Michael Bishara and Dr. Paul Cassedy — are addiction specialists. Schneider maintained that she was unaware of the specialty that Kay required, and didn’t recall specifics from her conversation with Kay.
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Schneider also acknowledged being aware of an anonymous letter addressed to Angel Stadium, which stated: “It should be brought to your attention that an employee was selling pills illegally obtained to Eric Kay at work. The employee is Hector Vazquez, he works in the visitor clubhouse.”
Schneider said she was unaware if it had been investigated.
Throughout the testimony, Schneider stated that she believed any reference to drug use was, in her mind, his prescription medication, and not illegal drugs. Skaggs attorney Daniel Dutko referenced the Angels employee handbook, which lists a “duty to report.”
The Angels handbook, according to testimony, does not differentiate between legal or illegal drugs. If they believe an employee is intoxicated at work, regardless of the legality of the drugs, they have a “duty to report.” Angels attorneys did not question Schneider during her deposition.
Following the playing of Schneider’s video deposition, Skaggs attorney Leah Graham called current Angels communications director Adam Chodzko to testify. In 2019, Chodzko worked under Kay, and was the person who reported Kay’s connection to Skaggs’ death to the Angels on July 19, 2019.
Chodzko testified that on July 17, 2019, Kay had to be driven home from work due to erratic behavior, the “worst” that Chodzko had ever seen from his colleague.
On July 18, the following day, Kay confided in Chodzko that he’d been in Skaggs’ hotel room on the night that Skaggs died. Chodzko testified that he brought that information to traveling secretary Tom Taylor, and then the two called Mead, who had since left for a job as president of the MLB Hall of Fame.
The next day, Chodzko went to Kay’s home and told him that he needed to come clean to team president John Carpino, or he would. Kay refused, and Chodzko then called Carpino.
“You did the right thing,” Chodzko said Carpino told him.
The Angels subsequently put Kay on paid leave, before he was suspended without pay on Oct. 14, 2019, citing emerging news reports about Kay’s conduct. Kay voluntarily resigned from the Angels on Nov. 2, 2019.
Chodzko produced many relevant text messages and emails, which were utilized by Skaggs lawyers to make clear that Kay’s drug abuse was known among Kay’s colleagues. In messages dating back to 2015, Kay had messaged Chodzko about being on drugs.
“Drugged up and sore. Like me about 3 a.m. in Tempe,” Kay messaged Chodzko in May of 2015. In July of 2017, he wrote to Chodzko, “If I have sent some of these before, sorry. I’m a user of fun drugs.”
Chodzko said he didn’t take these messages literally, and Kay’s self-deprecating humor played a role in how he viewed his then-boss.
However, in 2018 and 2019, Chodzko testified that he noticed a shift in Kay’s behavior. Working in the adjacent office, on at least five occasions, he heard Kay opening and closing his desk drawers, singing, and acting erratically. On multiple occasions, he saw Kay sweat through his shirt, and he testified that Kay needed an ice pack on his neck on the morning of Easter in 2019.
Chodzko testified that communications manager Matt Birch reported to him that Kay was falling asleep in the press box in Seattle on May 6, 2018, Chodzko told Mead. At the time, Chodzko was annoyed with Kay, he testified, because his erratic behavior led to the rest of the communications staff having to do more work.
When Kay returned to work on June 3, 2019, following his five-week outpatient rehab, Chodzko said he seemed normal and high-functioning. Chodzko said he was happy that Kay had seemed to get the help he needed. It had been determined as early as June 8, 2019, that Kay would be traveling with the team to Texas on June 30.
The Angels had only a few minutes to question Chodzko before the day wrapped, with attorney Stephen Ladsous highlighting Chodzko’s proactive decisions to report his colleague.
But ultimately, his testimony and the messages that he produced also highlighted Kay’s conduct, and that Chodzko and others within the organization appeared to be aware, through text messages and email evidence, that Kay was dealing with a drug abuse issue.
“He wasn’t a changed guy,” Graham, the Skaggs attorney, asked Chodzko, attempting to negate the narrative that the Angels had adequately addressed Kay’s drug issues with his outpatient rehab.
“That’s what we found out,” Chodzko said. “Yeah.”
