First a former player sued the Chicago Blackhawks over alleged sexual abuse from a coach, and now they’re being sued by a former high school player in Michigan where said coach, Brad Aldrich, landed after the Hawks gave him a positive recommendation for the job. The plaintiff is suing the Hawks for that endorsement, seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
Here’s a bit from TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead’s report:
The plaintiff, who is referred to as “John Doe (2)” in court documents, alleges that former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich, who no longer works for the franchise, sexually assaulted him on March 6, 2013, when Aldrich was an assistant coach on a high school team in Houghton, Mich., and the plaintiff was a 16-year-old player.
“At an end of season gathering for the players, Aldrich provided alcohol to the then minor plaintiff and performed oral sex on the plaintiff without his consent,” the six-page lawsuit says.
According to the report, the lawsuit was filed on May 26 in Cook Circuit Court in Chicago.
The Blackhawks declined to comment, according to TSN, due to it being a “pending litigation matter.”
The Hawks have changed presidents and are about to change GMs from that time, and they will assuredly try to dump this all on former president John McDonough, or even former mental skills coach John Gary, probably claiming Aldrich’s actions never went up the chain.
McDonough is a good Irish Catholic boy, and we’ve certainly never heard of such a person hushing up claims of sexual misconduct and then sending out the accused to another location far out of the spotlight. Where would one learn such a tactic?
Can read all about the first suit against the Blackhawks here.