NHL: Lawsuit against the Penguins for covering up sexual assault

The wife of a former coach in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization is set to file a sexual assault lawsuit against the organization and former assistant general manager Bill Guerin.

Erin Skalde, married to former Wilkes-Barre Scranton assistant coach Jarrod Skalde, is expected to file a lawsuit in Rhode Island alleging that Clark Donatelli, the former head coach of the Penguins' minor league affiliate, l sexually assaulted her while on duty. a team road trip to Providence in 2018.

Skalde would name Guerin, who is currently general manager of the Minnesota Wild, as well as Penguins owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux as defendants.

A press conference is expected to take place on Tuesday.

When the incident was first reported last year, Jarrod Skalde said he was told to keep quiet about Donatelli's alleged abuse after reporting it to Guerin and senior management seven months after the fact. He says he was fired for complaining to the team again about the incident, prompting the Skaldes to file a lawsuit in Pennsylvania last November after violating Pennsylvania's privacy laws. whistleblowers.

Guerin left the Penguins between the alleged assault and Skalde's firing.

Erin Skalde alleges that after a dinner in Providence, she was touched inappropriately by Donatelli while the two were briefly alone and again in the back seat of a carpool with Jarrod in the front seat.

In the original lawsuit filed in November, the Skaldes sought damages for “physical and emotional pain, mental suffering and loss of income.”

The second lawsuit against the Penguins comes at a time when the NHL is grappling with the fallout and backlash from a sexual assault cover-up within the Chicago Blackhawks organization in 2010. Several members of Blackhawks senior management lost their jobs, and the organization was fined $2 million after an independent investigation concluded that club members ignored allegations that a former video coach had sexually assaulted former prospect Kyle Beach before being allowed to quietly leave his position and continue to victimize others.

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