The Chicago Blackhawks are making moves to legally check a negligence lawsuit into the boards, filed by a former prospect alleging he was sexually assaulted and harassed by then-video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010. According to a Chicago Tribune report, the team's motion filed Tuesday contends that not only has the plaintiff, known only as John Doe, missed the filing deadline, but his claims also fail to satisfactorily establish negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress as legally required.
The suit, originally brought forth on Nov. 2, accuses the organization of squelching the player's complaints to shield their 2010 Stanley Cup chase. The lawsuit vividly details an uncomfortable series of encounters where Aldrich allegedly "groomed, harassed, threatened and assaulted" Doe, alongside coercing him through disturbing texts and unwanted physical contact, as per ABC7 Chicago coverage. Yet the Blackhawk's defense hinges on the arguments rooted in statutes of limitations, which for most claims impose a two-year cap and seven years for those under the Illinois Gender Violence Act.
The team also struck at the lawsuit's merits, arguing the absence of a contemporaneous impact or injury aligned with the emotional distress claims, which, translated from lawyer-speak, means Doe must prove that harm occurred concurrently with the alleged misconduct by the Hawks to maintain this part of his lawsuit, the Tribune detailed. On top of that, to shore up claims under the Illinois Gender Violence Act, the team has refuted the idea that the Hawks could have personally encouraged or abetted Aldrich’s alleged behavior, a requirement under the Act.
The Blackhawks, while remaining tight-lipped due to the active status of the suit, claimed dedication to a safe workplace environment, as per their statement provided to ABC7 Chicago. On the flip side, the attorneys representing the faceless John Doe, from the law firm Romanucci & Blandin, have dismissed the motion as containing "no surprises or novel arguments," stating, "We restate that we believe our client and are firmly committed to his pursuit of justice," Jason J. Friedl, senior attorney at the firm, conveyed via email.
Scoring up the controversy, the Hawks face comparisons with a previous lawsuit from Kyle Beach, a teammate of John Doe’s during the Black Aces tenure, who settled with the Hawks in December 2021 after a lurid narrative of similar abuse from Aldrich surfaced. "This case is about institutional negligence at its worst," Antonio Romanucci declared of the suit, shedding light on a dark corner of the Blackhawks' past where victories on ice were seemingly prioritized over virtue off it, according to the ABC7 Chicago report.
