DETROIT – Fans’ favorite Zamboni driver said the Detroit Red Wings kicked him out for urinating in the sewers.
Al Sobotka filed a discrimination lawsuit against Olympia Entertainment this week, two months after he was fired after 51 years with the Red Wings. His lawyer indicated that he suffers from a health problem that forces him to urinate regularly.
Sobotka, 68, couldn’t get to the bathroom in time, so he peed in a sewer that serves as a drop point for snow collected by resurfacing devices at Little Caesars Arena. Someone saw it and apparently reported it in February.
“He thought there was no one on the runway. He received no warning, no second chance,” said attorney Deborah Gordon.
Olympia Entertainment said it would not comment on the matter as the matter is before the courts.
In addition to experimenting with the resurfacing device at the Red Wings Games, Sobotka has been known for retrieving octopuses thrown by fans on the rink, a Detroit tradition carried out from Olympia Stadium, passing through the Joe Louis Arena and Little Caesars Arena. Fans applauded him as he moved the octopus over his head.
Gordon added that the company was aware of prostate problems in Sobotka.
