Chicago Hockey Insider has no direct affiliation to the Chicago Blackhawks, NHL or NHLPA
Breaking: Bad News For the Blackhawks Organization on Negligence Lawsuit
A Cook County judge denied the Blackhawks' motion to dismiss their negligence lawsuit, putting them back on the defensive.
John Doe, who was on the Black Aces squad during the 2009-10 season, filed the negligence lawsuit.
His lawsuit focuses on how the Hawks handled the SA lawsuit against Brad Aldrich, who was the video coach for the team in 2010.
Kyle Beach, who sued the team in 2021 over the same allegations, settled later. Doe was also a teammate of Beach.
A primary focus of the arguments was whether the statute of limitations had run out before Doe filed his lawsuit.
Chicago Blackhawks' motion to dismiss negligence suit denied
Chicago Blackhawks' motion to dismiss negligence suit denied https://t.co/FskTf2Bvn7— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) March 14, 2024
Nevertheless, Cook County Judge Thomas Cushing ruled that the facts accepted in good faith met the burden of "fraudulent concealment" by the team, and the plaintiff learned about these facts when Jenner & Block published an independent investigation of the case in 2021.
A five-year window from 2021 had been agreed upon by Cushing after Kyle Beach's 2021 lawsuit.
Cushing set a deadline of April 30 for the Hawks to contest any of the allegations or statements of fact in a more detailed response. From that point, both parties will be able to conduct discovery and depose witnesses leading up to a summary judgment hearing.
According to the Hawks, the limitations should have been set to two years, thereby making his ability to sue after 2023 impossible.
Nevertheless, since it was ruled Fraudulent Concealment, it extended Doe's lawsuit timeline.
The judge accepted the plaintiff's good faith argument that Blackhawks mental health coach James Gary misled Doe during a conversation about Brad Aldrich and a possible investigation regarding the video coach.
How will the Blackhawks explain this one?
| POLL | ||
MARS 16 | 80 ANSWERS Breaking: Bad News For the Blackhawks Organization on Negligence Lawsuit Do you think this case will be over in the next few years? | ||
| Yes | 46 | 57.5 % |
| No | 34 | 42.5 % |
| List of polls | ||