Former Major League Baseball player Ben Zobrist has dropped his lawsuit against his former pastor despite allegations of an affair between the pastor and Zobrist's wife.
Court documents have revealed that Zobrist has voluntarily withdrawn his legal claim of infidelity, valued at six million dollars, from the Nashville Circuit court. The withdrawal does not mention the particular reason for the change. However, it appears to be occurring at the same time as Zobrists' ongoing divorce trial.
Ben Zobrist played for the Chicago Cubs as their utilityman between 2006 and 2019, making a reasonably notable career in the MLB. In June, Zobrist filed a lawsuit in the Chicago courts, alleging that the pastor, Byron Yawn of Community Bible Church in Nashville, "usurped the ministerial-counselor role, violated and betrayed the confidence entrusted to him by the plaintiff, breached his fiduciary duty owed to the plaintiff and deceitfully used his access as counselor to engage in an inappropriate sexual relationship with the plaintiff's wife."
According to the lawsuit, the Zobrists had attended Community Bible Church in 2005, where Yawn acted as their marital counselor in 2007 and 2016. Yawn eventually left his post at Community Bible Church and now works as the chief executive officer at the consulting firm Forrest Crain and Co.
According to the lawsuit, Zobrist discovered evidence of infidelity in 2019, even going as far as to find a burner phone in Julianna's belongings at the time. The couple would later file for divorce in 2019.
When asked for comment, Yawn's attorney told the Chicago Tribune that "I'm suspicious for their reasons, but I'm optimistic that [Zobrist] continue to do the right things."
