Blackhawks accused of ‘institutional negligence’ as second former player launches suit

Content Warning: The following article contains references to sexual assault.

A former Chicago Blackhawks player who alleges he was sexually assaulted during the 2009-2010 Stanley Cup season and playoffs by former team video coach Brad Aldrich has filed a negligence lawsuit against the NHL team, nearly two years after Kyle Beach settled his own litigation with the franchise.

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 2 in Cook County Court in Chicago. The former player, who is referred to in court documents as “John Doe,” was called up to Chicago during the 2009-2010 season and playoffs to serve as a Black Ace, a prospect player who could be available to play for the team if needed.

“Our law firm filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team for allowing and perpetuating this conduct and placing winning ahead of the health and welfare of their players,” Antonio Romanucci, managing partner of Chicago law firm Romanucci & Blandin said in a press conference on Monday morning.

“This case is about institutional negligence at its worst, where the culture of ‘win at all cost’ allowed a predator coach to abuse players at a time when the coach knew he could act with impunity because the team was on a winning roll. The team conceded the abuses by Brad Aldrich but not until nearly a decade after it all happened...”

Romanucci’s colleague Jason Friedl said the Blackhawks are being accused in the lawsuit of six counts of negligence, including negligence related to hiring Aldrich and intentionally inflecting emotional distress on “John Doe.”

The 27-page statement of claim details Aldrich’s alleged predatory behaviour during the 2010 playoffs and how team officials responded when they were advised of it.

The Blackhawks, who were fined $2 million by the NHL for mismanaging the sexual assault allegations against Aldrich, said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune, which first reported the Nov. 2 lawsuit, that the organization has overhauled its leadership team and has introduced new reporting mechanisms for misconduct and training for employees.

Beach’s lawsuit, first filed in May 2021, shook the hockey world and led to the team commissioning Chicago law firm Jenner & Block to investigate the allegations.

On Oct. 27, 2021, the firm released a report outlining how Blackhawks management and coaching staff declined to report to police sexual assault allegations against Aldrich in May 2010. 

After Aldrich quietly resigned from the team on June 16, 2010, he was given a day with the Stanley Cup, moved between hockey jobs, and in 2013 worked as a volunteer coach in Houghton, Mich., where he sexually assaulted a then-16-year-old player. He was sentenced to nine months in jail.

The Blackhawks also reached a settlement with Aldrich’s victim, the former high school player, in December 2021.

The latest lawsuit filed last week alleges that Aldrich hosted “John Doe” and other Black Ace players at his apartment during the 2009-10 NHL season and that Aldrich arranged for “John Doe” to receive massages at the team hotel during road trips.

As the season and playoffs progressed, Aldrich’s behaviour became aggressively sexual towards “John Doe” and led to Aldrich attempting to show him pornographic videos and demanding a “quid pro quo exchange for his favours,” the lawsuit said.

On one occasion, Aldrich allowed “John Doe” to use his apartment to have sex with a woman, the lawsuit said.

“During the encounter, coach Aldrich sneaked into the bedroom while John Doe and the woman were having sex and tried to insert himself into the encounter, making his presence first known by playing with John Doe’s feet in the dark,” the claim said. “On another occasion, coach Aldrich offered to pay for John Doe to receive sexual favours from a masseuse if coach Aldrich could watch. On multiple occasions during the 2009 – 2010 NHL season and the Stanley Cup playoffs, coach Aldrich approached John Doe from behind, grabbed him in a hugging gesture, and ground his penis against John Doe’s back and buttocks through his clothes.”

Repeatedly, Aldrich sent “John Doe” harassing text messages, and on one occasion, Aldrich sent “John Doe” a text message stating that he could give a better “blow job” than any woman could, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit details how Beach reported Aldrich’s behaviour to then-Blackhawks skills coach Paul Vincent on or about May 16, 2010, and how Vincent then reported the allegations to team management and urged them to contact police.

Vincent was instead called to a meeting with Blackhawks senior vice president Al MacIsaac, who instructed him to take no action regarding the allegations, the lawsuit said.

After Aldrich sent “John Doe” a photo of Aldrich’s penis on May 21, 2010, “John Doe” showed the photo to team president John McDonough’s secretary, who then advised MacIsaac about it, the lawsuit said, adding that MacIsaac then sent then-team mental skills coach Dr. James Gary to speak with Aldrich about his inappropriate text messages.

“Dr. Gary told “John Doe” that [he] had misconstrued and/or provoked coach Aldrich’s conduct and stated that “John Doe” should move on with his life,” the lawsuit said. “Dr. Gary also promised “John Doe” that the Blackhawks would investigate Aldrich and address any confirmed misconduct.”

The lawsuit says that within an hour of the Blackhawks’ playoff win on May 23 in San Jose, which allowed the Blackhawks to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, a group of team officials that included McDonough, MacIsaac, general manager Stan Bowman, senior vice president Jay Blunk, assistant general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, Dr. Gary and coach Joel Quenneville met to discuss Aldrich.

On June 16, 2010, Aldrich was allowed to resign from the team and “in exchange for his quiet exit,” the Blackhawks continued to pay Aldrich for several months, giving him a severance package, a bonus, and a Stanley Cup championship ring.

Jenner & Block attorneys interviewed “John Doe” in connection with their investigation of Aldrich and the team, and refer to him in their report as “Black Ace 1.”

“[Beach] stated in his interview that he later spoke to Black Ace 1 about Aldrich,” the Jenner & Block report said. “[Beach] recalled that he told Black Ace 1 that Aldrich tried to touch him. [Beach] recalled that Black Ace 1 responded that Aldrich was a ‘creep’ and then ended the conversation. When interviewed, Black Ace 1 stated that he did not recall speaking to [Beach] about Aldrich in 2010 or at any time. Prior to his interview, on July 14, 2021, Black Ace 1 sent an email to our investigative team, in which he wrote, ‘I was never there to witness any allegations, but I do remember [Beach] talking to Jim Gary at the time about it.”

“Black Ace 1 vehemently denied to us in writing and during his interview that he had any direct sexual encounters with Aldrich,” the Jenner & Block report said.

Romanucci explained the earlier statements of “John Doe” saying it has taken time for him to process what happened. 

“He feels an intense amount of personal shame, guilt and embarrassment, and it took a long while for him to reconcile,” Romanucci said during Monday’s press conference.

“The experience of being sexually harassed, groomed, abused, and assaulted changed the trajectory of his professional and personal life,” Friedl said during the press conference. “It derailed his lifelong aspirations to play in the NHL. He continues to process the experience and is trying hard to move on… it has taken some time for this young man to come to grips with what has happened.”