Another former Blackhawk accuses team of covering up sexual assault.
A second former Chicago Blackhawks player is coming forward and making serious allegations against the team.
The Chicago Blackhawks may have thought they had put the Brad Aldrich incident behind them, but that story it would seem is far from over.
A stunning report from the Chicago Tribune published on Saturday has now revealed that a second member of the Blackhawks' now infamous "Black Aces" and a former teammate of Kyle Beach's has come forward and revealed that he too was victimized by former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich.
The player, whose identity is being protected at this time, is now suing the team and claiming that not only was he "groomed, harassed, threatened and assaulted" by Aldrich, but that the team also suppressed his complaint to protect their Stanley Cup championship run. This of course sounds very much like the accusations that were made by Beach himself.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday and the player is being represented by law firm Romanucci & Blandin whose founding partner, Antonio Romanucci, has commented on the ongoing litigation.
"This is a continuation of the institutional and cultural abuses that we are seeing coming from our sports teams, whether they are local teams or from ones that are around the country," said Romanucci as per the Chicago Tribune.
The suit says Aldrich’s "behavior became overtly and aggressively sexual" toward him, alleging the following:
- “Aldrich sneaked into the bedroom while John Doe and (a) 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.”
- “Aldrich offered to pay for John Doe to receive sexual favors from a masseuse if Coach Aldrich could watch.”
- “On multiple occasions ... 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.”
- “Aldrich sent John Doe harassing text messages.”
- “On one occasion, Coach Aldrich sent John Doe a text message stating that he could give (oral sex better) than any woman could,” which “Black Ace 1″ told Jenner & Block investigators during an interview on Aug. 24, 2021.
The unnamed player also alleges that Aldrich used his position on the team to make threats regarding his future career prospects, and further used this as leverage in an effort to coerce the player not to report him to the team. In spite of this the unnamed player claims that he, after being sent a picture of Coach Aldrich's penis via text message, showed the sexually explicit image to Blackhawks President John McDonough's secretary who in turn showed the image to Hawks management.
The Blackhawks responded to the Chicago Tribune's report by stating that they "take allegations of workplace misconduct and organizational response very seriously, and it’s why, over two years ago, we commissioned an extensive independent investigation into the troubling events that occurred in 2010.
"We’ve changed as a result of what happened and implemented numerous positive improvements throughout our organization to ensure the safety and well-being of our players and employees. This includes completely rebuilding the leadership team with personnel who demonstrate our values and bring the right subject matter expertise in the critical areas of compliance and human resources, an expansive mental health program, and new reporting mechanisms and training for all employees.
"Until we learn more about this pending litigation, we will refrain from commenting with any additional specifics."
The law firm representing the as of yet to be identified player has scheduled a press conference for 10 am on Monday at their offices in downtown Chicago, where no doubt more details of these extremely disturbing allegations will be shared with the public.
