A Cook County (Ill.) Circuit Court judge has denied the Chicago Blackhawks’ motion for a summary judgment in a case in which the team was sued by a former player, “John Doe,” who claimed the team failed to act when officials were allegedly informed that one of the team’s former video coaches sexually abused him.
The alleged incident occurred during the 2010 Stanley Cup and involved video coach Brad Aldrich. Of significance, the Blackhawks had previously settled a case involving similar allegations that were made by former player Kyle Beach against Aldrich.
In their motion for summary judgment, the Blackhawks alleged that John Doe’s claims exceeded the discovery rule’s two-year statute of limitations (for personal injury cases in Illinois) and that he should have known of his injury by 2011 after the sexual assault was reported and Aldrich had left the Blackhawks.
Doe’s attorneys, Antonio Romanucci and Jason Friedl, countered answered that his deadline should have been extended to October 2021, since that is when the Blackhawks released Jenner & Block’s independent report of the organization’s response to the allegations made against Aldrich in 2010.
The Blackhawks also claimed that Doe was relying on inadmissible evidence, including the independent report, and had not proven that the team had fraudulently concealed information in 2010.
The judge in the instant case noted that the court record included depositions of Doe and former Blackhawks coach Paul Vincent, a partial transcript of a deposition by former Blackhawks psychologist James Gary, emails and the Jenner & Block report. Further, she referenced alleged communication in those documents between Doe and others about how the Blackhawks front office was allegedly aware of the allegations in 2010.
“Taken together, the deposition testimonies alone present a number of questions of material fact that preclude summary judgment,” according to the judge. “Such questions include: (1) how many conversations occurred between Plaintiff and Gary during the time period in question; (2) the substance of the conversation(s) between Gary and Plaintiff; (3) what Gary meant when he stated on multiple occasions, as evidenced by Vincent’s testimony, that he would ‘take care of it,’ or it was being ‘handled.’”
She also found against the team on its other arguments.
“A reasonable trier of fact could find that Plaintiff’s claims are not subject to the discovery rule because he did not have sufficient information in 2010 to discover potential claims against CBHT (Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Team) despite having awareness of the sexual harassment he claims occurred at the hands of Aldrich,” wrote the judge. “Moreover, as fraudulent concealment is an exception to the discovery rule’s statute of limitations, based on the evidence presented, the Court cannot determine with certainty whether the exception is applicable to Plaintiff’s claims.
“When construing the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, as it must, the Court finds that triable issues of fact exist, and reasonable minds might differ in drawing inferences from those facts. Thus, Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is denied.”
Interestingly, as the case proceeds to trial, former Blackhawks general manager and current Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman could be compelled to testify. Bowman had sought to quash a subpoena last spring, and the judge ruled in his favor, finding that the subpoena was improperly served. Doe’s attorneys issued a statement in May, suggesting they may pursue another subpoena for Bowman.
“Stan Bowman is indeed still subject to a trial subpoena, and we remain committed to securing justice for our client and holding accountable those who contributed to an environment of abuse through their actions or inactions,” they said.
