Chicago Blackhawks hockey company general manager and president Stan Bowman stepped down on Tuesday after team investigation revealed he was among a group of leaders who failed to promptly respond to allegations that an assistant coach raped a player in 2010.
Jenner & Block’s independent verification results were shared with the Blackhawks on Monday, and the team’s CEO Danny Wirtz said the report was “disturbing and difficult to read.”
Former federal attorney Reid Shar, who led the investigation, said on Tuesday that Bowman, former team president John McDonough, executive director of hockey operations Al Maqisak, former executive vice president Jay Blank and then deputy general manager Kevin Cheveldaoff met with then-coach Joel Kenneville. and Mental Coach Jim Gary will discuss allegations that then-assistant coach Brad Aldrich attacked the player.
Shar said the reports of the meeting “vary considerably.”
“What is clear is that after Aldrich was informed of the alleged sexual harassment and misconduct with the player, no action was taken for three weeks,” Shar said.
The investigation was initiated by the team after two lawsuits were filed against the Blackhawks: one for alleged sexual assault by assistant coach Aldrich during the team’s Stanley Cup race, and the other was filed by a former student who was convicted of assault by Aldrich. Michigan. Aldrich left the Blackhawks after the 2009-10 season.
The former player said that Aldrich attacked him and that the team did nothing after reporting it to a staff member. A lawsuit filed May 7 with Cook County District Court alleges that Aldrich also attacked another unknown Blackhawks player. The former player who is suing and seeking damages in excess of $ 150,000 is referred to in the document as “John Doe.”
The eight-page lawsuit says Aldrich, then the Blackhawks’ video coach, “turned on porn and began masturbating in front of” the player without his consent. It states that Aldrich also threatened “physically, financially and emotionally” to harm the player if he “did not have sex with him.”