Another sex scandal emerges out of Chicago, and the and the Blackhawks land back in hot water!
Sanders was brought in to forge ties between the squad and the Native American community back in 2020, but she feels she was forced away. In an exclusive interview with CBS Chicago, Sanders stated, “I opened doors for the Blackhawks because people wouldn’t work with them.”
She had hoped the club would change its name, among other things, but they have stuck with it, citing Black Hawk—a true Native American and Illinoisan battle leader—as their inspiration. Sanders said she was misled when she scheduled a meeting with team CEO Danny Wirtz in May 2021. “She said based on her conversations with him, she believed the team would change the logo, and she told the community that too,” Sanders said.
However, the team and the Sac and Fox Nation partnered a few months later, in August 2021. Subsequently, the tribe changed its mind about the emblem and issued a new resolution endorsing the Chicago Blackhawks’ logo.
Sanders has left the team, and she says it’s not just because of the controversy around the logo. In addition, she is accused of violating the Gender Violence Act, sexual harassment, fraud, and oral contract breaches. She told CBS the following about being touched against her will and experiencing sexual harassment:
Sanders said in the lawsuit that a man employed by the company had harassed her sexually in 2022. He is accused in the lawsuit of making “inappropriate sexual advances,” touching her “without her consent,” and unsolicitedly sending her “sexually explicit videos of him” over Snapchat. Sanders allegedly verbally reported two more instances of individuals associated with the group groping women at Blackhawks events, according to the lawsuit.
Nina claims she reported all of these instances to her boss, who happens to be the director of the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation, the team’s charity arm. However, according to the lawsuit, nothing was done and that the team instead made an effort to quiet her by having her leave the United Center and altering her job.
Sanders claimed, “I felt like I started to get pushed out when I repeated it over and over.” “That was when the discrimination and retaliation started.”
Sanders claimed that the Hawks had done an internal inquiry into her claims, and they discovered that “the alleged incidents of sexual harassment were not disclosed” until after her contract was not renewed. Refusing to be interviewed for this tale was Wirtz. The following statements were given by the organization to CBS Chicago, though:
Considering our responsibilities to the Native American community:
Our company is dedicated to supporting Native American communities outside of our boundaries. The Sac & Fox Nation, the ancestral tribe of our namesake Black Hawk, and other Native American communities have been the focus of the Chicago Blackhawks’ more than ten-year relationship-building and outreach activities. To help direct our programming, we currently have over 15 advisory connections in addition to five formal partners.
Grant programs, cooperative displays and installations, language preservation initiatives, game-day materials, our land acknowledgement, and tools dedicated to spotting future prospects are all part of this activity.
In the course of these partnerships, formal advisory committees, elected council members, and community leaders assist in setting the priorities of our organization and conduct frequent assessments of our cooperative efforts on behalf of Native Americans and their culture. We remain fully dedicated to this cooperation and eagerly anticipate providing updates on forthcoming projects, their effects on the community, and the advancement of public and fan education.
In reaction to Ms. Sanders’s Chicago Blackhawks employment agreement:
Ms. Sanders served as an independent contractor and one of several partners and consultants in a support role for the Chicago Blackhawks Native American endeavors from 2020 to 2023. Ms. Sanders was required by her position to provide support for particular projects in collaboration with the Sac & Fox Nation and other Native American groups.
While the Chicago Blackhawks appreciated Ms. Sanders’ consulting services, they had observed operational problems with her work and heard from outside partners that they did not want to engage with her any more.
Therefore, the company attempted to extend her contract in June 2023 with very precise targets that were appropriate with the labor and responsibilities required, based on particular activities scheduled for the upcoming season. Despite initially accepting the revised terms, Ms. Sanders finally decided not to have her contract renewed and hasn’t been employed by the company since.
Following the breakdown of contract negotiations, Ms. Sanders expressed her dissatisfaction with the organization regarding the working relationship and presented some of the allegations—none of which she had disclosed during her involvement with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Notably, just before her contract expired, Ms. Sanders corresponded with Chicago Blackhawks officials, complimenting the team on its work with Native American communities and the individuals who spearheaded that initiative.
To be clear, the Chicago Blackhawks have been collaborating with Sac & Fox Nation members for almost a decade now. The formal collaboration talks with Sac & Fox Nation started in 2020 as a result of this cooperation.
In reaction to Ms. Sanders’s claims of harassment:
The Chicago Blackhawks have an extreme zero tolerance policy for misbehavior and take workplace harassment claims very seriously. As soon as Ms. Sanders made her accusations, the organization, with outside legal support, launched a comprehensive investigation that involved speaking with both internal and external individuals and reviewing relevant documents and digital recordings.
We didn’t find enough evidence to support her assertions based on the information at our disposal. Notably, neither are the individuals Ms. Sanders mentioned in your query currently, nor have they ever been independent contractors or Chicago Blackhawks employees.
Just one day prior, Kyle Beach approved Joel Quenneville’s reinstatement as the NHL’s head coach. Since his resignation as head coach of the Florida Panthers in 2021 due to allegations of negligence and culpability in the Brad Aldrich sexual assault controversy from his 2010 Chicago Blackhawks days, Quenneville has not been a head coach in the National Hockey League.
After the accusations, Quenneville was placed on a temporary suspension by the NHL, and he had to petition NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to be reinstated before he could start working for a team. For different reasons, the spotlight may again return to Chicago, but the situation is still unsettling.