Former Angel Employee Files Suit Against Team

Phil Alger, the Angel employee who lost his job after soliciting bids for his World Championship ring on EBay, filed suit Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court for wrongful termination and breach of promise.

Alger, who earned $60,000 a year as a computer programmer and analyst for the Angels and Mighty Ducks, was placed on indefinite unpaid leave in April, after his supervisors launched an investigation into whether he had violated company policy by releasing confidential information in the EBay listing. Alger resigned soon thereafter.

In his suit, Alger, 39, claims unspecified financial damages and extreme physical and emotional stress.

Tim Mead, the Angels’ vice president of communications, said team officials would not address the matter until they received a copy of the suit.

According to the suit, Alger listed the ring, worth about $10,000, on EBay hoping to determine its value because he was interested in selling it to provide a down payment for a home.

The Angels required each employee to sign a pledge not to sell his or her ring, but Alger resigned before those documents -- and the rings -- were distributed. His breach of promise claim stems from his never receiving the ring he said the organization promised him.

“I’d like to get my ring,” Alger, who had been with the Angels and Mighty Ducks for the last five years, told The Times last month. “It was already made, and it had my name on it. I think I earned the ring long before this ever went down.”

-- Ben Bolch, Jean Guccione and Bill Shaikin