Second Blackhawks employee terminated due to sexual harassment
When it rains it pours. Emily Kaplan who has done an amazing job covering the Reid Boucher sexual assault case is now bringing to light some more disturbing information from the Chicago Blackhawks.
It has been reported this week that multiple parties linked to the Brad Aldrich situation are considering filing legal action against the club, but now information has surfaced that in November of 2021 the Blackhawks terminated the head athletic trainer from the Rockford IceHogs for sexual harassment, sources told ESPN.
Emily Kaplan shared the following information.
When reached by ESPN on Sunday, the Blackhawks confirmed that Rockford IceHogs head athletic trainer D.J. Jones' employment had been terminated in November. According to sources, the person was a member of the team's ice crew and the allegations were from an incident that happened years ago.
"Under our new leadership, we have made it crystal clear that nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our players and employees, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of our standards of conduct in our organization. We have done a lot of work to ensure an environment where employees are encouraged to feel safe coming forward, even if it is about wrongdoing that occurred in the past," the team said in a statement.
"Recently, when allegations of sexual harassment in 2014 by D.J. Jones, the head athletic trainer for the Rockford IceHogs, were reported to the Blackhawks on October 27, 2021, we adhered to our new protocols and procedures, suspended Mr. Jones, conducted an in depth investigation over 5 days and, following the conclusive results, terminated Mr. Jones on November 3, 2021."
Despite the Blackhawks quick response to this matter this seems to be another black eye on the franchise. Throw in last week's outburst by Rocky Wirtz and it seems more and more like the Blackhawks organization is rotten at the core.
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