(Chicago) A lawsuit against the Chicago Blackhawks by a Michigan alumnus who said he was sexually assaulted by former assistant coach Brad Aldrich has been dismissed, a lawyer said Monday.
Susan Loggans, who represents the former student, told The Associated Press that an order in the case was made in Cook County court last week. She declined to comment on the denial or the order.
The Blackhawks also declined to comment on the situation.
Earlier this month, the Blackhawks and former first-round pick Kyle Beach, who said he was sexually assaulted by Aldrich, came to a confidential settlement in yet another lawsuit.
After leaving the Blackhawks, Aldrich was convicted in 2013 in the state of Michigan of fourth degree criminal sexual behavior involving a college student. He is now on that state’s sex offender registry, WBEZ reported in a series of articles based on legal documents, police records and interviews.
The former student Aldrich was convicted of assaulting filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks on May 26, saying the Blackhawks provided positive references to Aldrich’s future employers. The Blackhawks had at least one player’s allegations on hand and took no action to report the matter.
The lawsuit indicated the student was a hockey player at Houghton High School in 2013 when Aldrich sexually assaulted him at a season-ending rally.
Loggans also represented Beach in his lawsuit against the Blackhawks. Beach sued the team over how they handled their allegations of sexual assault by Aldrich. Beach alleged he was assaulted by Aldrich when winning the Stanley Cup from the Blackhawks in 2010. Aldrich told investigators the meeting was consensual.
Beach told investigators that Aldrich, a video coach at the time, threatened him with a baseball bat in order to perform sexual acts with the former NHL player.
An independent report, commissioned by the team and released in October, concluded that the Blackhawks organization had mismanaged Beach’s allegations.
Several high-ranking members of the Blackhawk organization have lost their posts according to this report. It’s not in Chicago that heads rolled, as Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville – the Blackhawks coach at the time – resigned in the wake of the events.
The NHL fined the Blackhawks US $ 2 million.