Fired Zamboni driver Al Sobotka testifies in court for about 4 hours

Misplaced his job after urinating in a storage drain

• Sobotka claims he’s a sufferer of age discrimination.
• He additionally mentioned he has a prostate situation that makes bladder management troublesome.

Al Sobotka, a veteran Zamboni driver, wiped away tears as he described what occurred to his life after he was fired for urinating into an ice drain at Little Caesars Enviornment in 2022.

“The place was I imagined to go?” he mentioned. “You realize my spouse is sick, has actually unhealthy lupus and her insurance coverage has been canceled. We could not get her meds. We have been paying about $2,000 a month for only one prescription.”

Sobotka labored for Olympia Leisure, which runs the world, for 51 years. He ready the ice for Purple Wings video games and have become a neighborhood movie star for spinning over the octopuses some followers threw onto the ice throughout the playoffs.

He mentioned he additionally grew to become shut with the group’s gamers and the Ilitch household, which owns the group. He testified that he would ship Christmas presents for the Ilitches yearly on Christmas Eve for greater than 30 years.

That every one ended on February 4, 2022, when he and his boss walked into his workplace and spoke to a human assets individual on the telephone. They requested him if he had urinated within the drain.

“I wasn’t going to lie,” Sobotka mentioned. “I am not a liar.”

Sobotka was informed he was suspended with pay for per week, however he by no means returned to work. He was fired two weeks later and is now submitting a lawsuit. He claims he’s a sufferer of age discrimination and notes that he has a prostate situation that makes bladder management troublesome.

Olympia Leisure denies any discrimination and defends the dismissal.

Sobotka testified for about 4 hours Thursday, Oct. 9, in Wayne County Circuit Court docket, answering questions from his legal professional, Deborah Gordon, and from Layne Sakwa, who represents Olympia. As he sat in a witness chair in entrance of the courtroom, the backdrop was a white marble wall with the phrases “The enterprise of the authorized course of is to implement our American sense of truthful play.”

His lawsuit primarily claims that Olympia denied him that after they fired him after years of loyal service.

Gordon requested Sobotka about his profession within the arenas. He began in 1971 at Olympia Stadium on Grand River, moved on to Joe Louis Enviornment on the Riverfront and ultimately to Little Caesars Enviornment on Woodward, the place the Purple Wings now play.

He typically labored weekends and holidays, sometimes spending the evening on the area to get the job performed.

The incident concerned a Wednesday morning on the rink, February 2, 2022. Sobotka had used the Zamboni to resurface the ice in preparation for a night recreation in opposition to the Los Angeles Kings. As he drove off the ice, he turned it right into a storage the place it was stored.

In opposition to the again wall of the storage is a big rectangular drain, about the identical width because the Zamboni. It’s used to scrub the machine of the ice and sludge that’s scraped from the skating floor. Sobotka testified that he drove to the drain, emptied the Zamboni after which linked a water hose to it to fill the 40-gallon water tank.

“I grabbed the hose, put it within the machine after which I acquired the urge to go,” Sobotka mentioned. “I rapidly urinated, zipped up and rinsed my fingers.”

Gordon requested him how a lot of his penis was seen when urinating.

“None, I did not take it out,” Sobotka mentioned.

Sobotka mentioned he was trying on the wall when he urinated and the Zamboni coated a part of his physique as he did. He later found {that a} colleague strolling previous the storage door had seen him and reported it to human assets.

Sobotka mentioned there have been three different males engaged on his crew on the time, however he informed them to take their morning espresso break earlier than he went to pee. Jurors noticed video from a surveillance digicam that confirmed Sobotka driving the Zamboni into the storage with co-workers close by, regardless that he was not urinating.

Sobotka mentioned that after he admitted to urinating, he was escorted out of the constructing and when he returned dwelling, entry to his work e-mail was reduce off.

As proof of his age discrimination declare, Sobotka mentioned he was at a Zoom assembly a number of days earlier than he was suspended. Then, Sobotka says, firm Vice President Tim Padgett informed him phrases to the impact of “you are simply previous” or “you are getting previous.”

A jury of 4 ladies and three males heard his testimony earlier than Circuit Choose Susan Hubbard.

Below cross-examination, Sakwa acquired Sobotka to acknowledge that there was a males’s room close to the Zamboni storage. He additionally agreed that he solely disclosed his prostate situation to his bosses after he was suspended.

“In case you file the lawsuit, that would be the first time anybody from Olympia Leisure has seen a dialog about an age remark. Is not that proper?” Sakwa requested.

“Sure,” he replied.

Sakwa requested Sobotka about earlier urinary episodes.

‘You do not simply pee in a snow pit on February 2. In truth, you additionally did it at Joe Louis Enviornment. Is that proper?’ she requested.

“I wasn’t the one one,” he mentioned.

She mentioned this wasn’t her query.

“You admit you probably did it in Joe Louis Enviornment. Is that proper?’ she requested.

“Sure… there was no different place to go,” Sobotka mentioned.

Sakwa mentioned Sobotka was repeatedly requested to call different workers who had urinated in Joe Louis’ drain, however he declined.

Testimony is anticipated to renew at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 10.

Free Press workers author Tresa Baldas contributed to this report.

Contact John Correctly: jwisely@freepress.com. On X: @jwisely