Read all of it. This is horrible if true, but there’s some questions raised. Going to have to wait until there’s an actual outcome.
dishonourableprince
it’s disappointing that news like this is coming out against the organization again.
this story is quite interesting though considering this excerpt is at the end of the article:
“Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.”
Moist-muff
Jesus christ, when tf will it end
GoldWhale
I’m not trying to diminish her if she has actual harms, it’s horrible she experienced sexual harassment and I’m not trying to claim her story is false, untrue, etc. in any way.
Being said, the sexual harassment piece seens like a very weak case. “The Chicago Blackhawks have a zero tolerance policy for misconduct and take allegations of harassment in the workplace very seriously. In response to Ms. Sanders’ allegations, the organization immediately conducted a thorough investigation with the assistance of outside counsel, including interviews with internal and external parties, and review of pertinent materials and digital records. Based on the information available to us, we found insufficient evidence to substantiate her claims. **Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.**”
The abuse piece though I think is a bit ridiculous. She went into working with the organization thinking the logo would change despite the public statements from Rocky and Danny that no change would come. When other tribes she worked with came out in support of the logo and the Hawks didn’t change it she felt “used”. She had poor relationships with the tribes and other native leadership groups, and despite being extended another contract she declined and then sued.
This entire thing sounds like a nothingburger in terms of liability towards the Blackhawks organization.
wholalaa
Really comes down to whether the sexual harassment claims can be substantiated or not. I’d like to think the organization wouldn’t be stupid enough to say that they can’t be if that isn’t true, but we’ll see. The rest just sounds like someone unhappy with how a job worked out: she wanted the logo changed, and she found out that the tribe and the team had other priorities.
ForeSkinWrinkle
Not a great look for the team, especially the sexual harassment stuff.
Legally, the oral contract stuff seems to be vague and unenforceable (that’s why you always write out your contracts kids). And the fraud claim seems to be that she was brought in to help the image and she was just used and discarded. This “sports washing” (using sports to improve a brand or image) is a common tactic. It’s scummy, immoral, and transparent as all hell, but I don’t think “sports washing” is illegal.
I don’t think this sees the court room because of the egg on the hawks face from the sexual harassment stand point, but the fraud claim would be real interesting to see play out in court.
AARM2000
After reading it I think we need to wait and see. Obviously horrible if true.
dangshnizzle
Assuming the organization’s lawyers are not lying through their teeth, their response also feels quite important here:
> After contract negotiations dissolved, Ms. Sanders shared her frustrations with the organization over the working relationship, and introduced noted allegations, none of which had been shared by Ms. Sanders at any time during her engagement with the Chicago Blackhawks. Notably, shortly prior to her contract ending, Ms. Sanders shared correspondence with Chicago Blackhawks executives, praising the organization for their efforts with Native American communities alongside the leaders responsible for that work.
> As a point of clarity, the Chicago Blackhawks have had working relationships with members of the Sac & Fox Nation for more than 10 years. This relationship ultimately led to the formal partnership discussions with Sac & Fox Nation that began in 2020.
> In response to harassment allegations made by Ms. Sanders:
> The Chicago Blackhawks have a zero tolerance policy for misconduct and take allegations of harassment in the workplace very seriously. In response to Ms. Sanders’ allegations, the organization immediately conducted a thorough investigation with the assistance of outside counsel, including interviews with internal and external parties, and review of pertinent materials and digital records. Based on the information available to us, we found insufficient evidence to substantiate her claims. Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Just because they’re not Chicago Blackhawks employees doesn’t mean they’re not employees of the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation (the charity), right?
I’ll also say.. a logo change is probably coming by the end of the decade
wings31
“I told him that it was racist,” Sanders said, “that it was offensive because it was a caricature of a real person; a man who actually fought on behalf of his own people and lost so many lives in that process.”
Thats all i need to know about this person.
ClosPins
I hate articles such as this. First you have this quote – enlarged and bolded:
> **”I felt like they basically used me”**
Then, not even one sentences later:
> The Chicago Blackhawks confirmed to CBS Chicago they hired Sanders as a contractor…
Well, no shit they used her! She was their employee! That’s what you do with employees. They aren’t there so you’ll be nice to them and give them huge piles of money for doing nothing.
And then this shit:
> that it was offensive because it was a caricature of a real person
Senators are real people, is Ottawa offending politicians all over the world? No. Their logo is even a caricature! A ‘Canuck’ is a person, is Vancouver insulting Canadians with their caricatures?
Heck, the NBA’s logo is a caricature of a specific player. Is it insulting to Jerry West?
[deleted]
[deleted]
squiddangles
To those who did not read the article, the person who did the harassment has no affiliation with the Blackhawks.
thebriss22
As much as the other Kyle Beach affair sounded credible… This one has huge red flags attached to it.
Sounds like a pissed off employee who didn’t have things her way
zns26
Disappointing. Something is clearly wrong with the Hawks. I’ll always be a fan of the players, but damn.. this sucks if it’s true
PhilyJ
Seems like a money grab. Not surprised from someone who’s job appears to be a professional victim.
drummerboy31402
You can tell in r/hockey who actually read the article and who didn’t. Talk about a hive mind.
Apprehensive_Way8674
Fucking shit
cheeseburgerwaffles
Wow. How the fuck do they let a headline like this fly when they found that the people she’s accusing of sexual harassment never even worked with the organization in any way.
Furthermore, fuck this entire article for focusing so much on her position on the logo and name, etc. It’s fucking race bait at best. And that’s coming from someone who has been against this logo for a while now.
This entire article is just smoke and mirrors to bury the final word from the organization, which is stated only once, briefly, at the very end of the article, that these harassers never worked for the organization. What the fuck
Bobgoblin
Very disappointed with Rick Westhead’s tweet on this matter, definitely calls into question anything I read from him from here on out. (Which is a damn shame because the awareness he brings on these kinds of matters is definitely important to have)
He specifically cherry picks the worst sounding quotes from the CBS article and makes it seem like these are Blackhawks employees who sexually harassed her. He knows what he is doing.
asvpmillzy
I mean it looks retaliatory, but we need to give it time to play out. Shoutout to the geniuses at r/hockey tho, they really broke this case wide open /s
Hutch25
Maybe it’s true, maybe she was sexually harassed bad mislead… but I don’t really see this case making it very far.
We have seen recently as Chicago has tried to reform the organization into the model of a professional inclusive workplace with the Corey Perry thing, and this time when they say they didn’t find any evidence I find it hard not to believe them especially with a third party involved.
Who knows though, maybe this is legit and she’s got a real case but I guess we will find out.
22 Comments
What a shameful organization
Read all of it. This is horrible if true, but there’s some questions raised. Going to have to wait until there’s an actual outcome.
it’s disappointing that news like this is coming out against the organization again.
this story is quite interesting though considering this excerpt is at the end of the article:
“Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.”
Jesus christ, when tf will it end
I’m not trying to diminish her if she has actual harms, it’s horrible she experienced sexual harassment and I’m not trying to claim her story is false, untrue, etc. in any way.
Being said, the sexual harassment piece seens like a very weak case. “The Chicago Blackhawks have a zero tolerance policy for misconduct and take allegations of harassment in the workplace very seriously. In response to Ms. Sanders’ allegations, the organization immediately conducted a thorough investigation with the assistance of outside counsel, including interviews with internal and external parties, and review of pertinent materials and digital records. Based on the information available to us, we found insufficient evidence to substantiate her claims. **Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.**”
The abuse piece though I think is a bit ridiculous. She went into working with the organization thinking the logo would change despite the public statements from Rocky and Danny that no change would come. When other tribes she worked with came out in support of the logo and the Hawks didn’t change it she felt “used”. She had poor relationships with the tribes and other native leadership groups, and despite being extended another contract she declined and then sued.
This entire thing sounds like a nothingburger in terms of liability towards the Blackhawks organization.
Really comes down to whether the sexual harassment claims can be substantiated or not. I’d like to think the organization wouldn’t be stupid enough to say that they can’t be if that isn’t true, but we’ll see. The rest just sounds like someone unhappy with how a job worked out: she wanted the logo changed, and she found out that the tribe and the team had other priorities.
Not a great look for the team, especially the sexual harassment stuff.
Legally, the oral contract stuff seems to be vague and unenforceable (that’s why you always write out your contracts kids). And the fraud claim seems to be that she was brought in to help the image and she was just used and discarded. This “sports washing” (using sports to improve a brand or image) is a common tactic. It’s scummy, immoral, and transparent as all hell, but I don’t think “sports washing” is illegal.
I don’t think this sees the court room because of the egg on the hawks face from the sexual harassment stand point, but the fraud claim would be real interesting to see play out in court.
After reading it I think we need to wait and see. Obviously horrible if true.
Assuming the organization’s lawyers are not lying through their teeth, their response also feels quite important here:
> After contract negotiations dissolved, Ms. Sanders shared her frustrations with the organization over the working relationship, and introduced noted allegations, none of which had been shared by Ms. Sanders at any time during her engagement with the Chicago Blackhawks. Notably, shortly prior to her contract ending, Ms. Sanders shared correspondence with Chicago Blackhawks executives, praising the organization for their efforts with Native American communities alongside the leaders responsible for that work.
> As a point of clarity, the Chicago Blackhawks have had working relationships with members of the Sac & Fox Nation for more than 10 years. This relationship ultimately led to the formal partnership discussions with Sac & Fox Nation that began in 2020.
> In response to harassment allegations made by Ms. Sanders:
> The Chicago Blackhawks have a zero tolerance policy for misconduct and take allegations of harassment in the workplace very seriously. In response to Ms. Sanders’ allegations, the organization immediately conducted a thorough investigation with the assistance of outside counsel, including interviews with internal and external parties, and review of pertinent materials and digital records. Based on the information available to us, we found insufficient evidence to substantiate her claims. Of note, the persons identified by Ms. Sanders in your question are not, and have never been, independent contractors with nor employees of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Just because they’re not Chicago Blackhawks employees doesn’t mean they’re not employees of the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation (the charity), right?
I’ll also say.. a logo change is probably coming by the end of the decade
“I told him that it was racist,” Sanders said, “that it was offensive because it was a caricature of a real person; a man who actually fought on behalf of his own people and lost so many lives in that process.”
Thats all i need to know about this person.
I hate articles such as this. First you have this quote – enlarged and bolded:
> **”I felt like they basically used me”**
Then, not even one sentences later:
> The Chicago Blackhawks confirmed to CBS Chicago they hired Sanders as a contractor…
Well, no shit they used her! She was their employee! That’s what you do with employees. They aren’t there so you’ll be nice to them and give them huge piles of money for doing nothing.
And then this shit:
> that it was offensive because it was a caricature of a real person
Senators are real people, is Ottawa offending politicians all over the world? No. Their logo is even a caricature! A ‘Canuck’ is a person, is Vancouver insulting Canadians with their caricatures?
Heck, the NBA’s logo is a caricature of a specific player. Is it insulting to Jerry West?
[deleted]
To those who did not read the article, the person who did the harassment has no affiliation with the Blackhawks.
As much as the other Kyle Beach affair sounded credible… This one has huge red flags attached to it.
Sounds like a pissed off employee who didn’t have things her way
Disappointing. Something is clearly wrong with the Hawks. I’ll always be a fan of the players, but damn.. this sucks if it’s true
Seems like a money grab. Not surprised from someone who’s job appears to be a professional victim.
You can tell in r/hockey who actually read the article and who didn’t. Talk about a hive mind.
Fucking shit
Wow. How the fuck do they let a headline like this fly when they found that the people she’s accusing of sexual harassment never even worked with the organization in any way.
Furthermore, fuck this entire article for focusing so much on her position on the logo and name, etc. It’s fucking race bait at best. And that’s coming from someone who has been against this logo for a while now.
This entire article is just smoke and mirrors to bury the final word from the organization, which is stated only once, briefly, at the very end of the article, that these harassers never worked for the organization. What the fuck
Very disappointed with Rick Westhead’s tweet on this matter, definitely calls into question anything I read from him from here on out. (Which is a damn shame because the awareness he brings on these kinds of matters is definitely important to have)
He specifically cherry picks the worst sounding quotes from the CBS article and makes it seem like these are Blackhawks employees who sexually harassed her. He knows what he is doing.
I mean it looks retaliatory, but we need to give it time to play out. Shoutout to the geniuses at r/hockey tho, they really broke this case wide open /s
Maybe it’s true, maybe she was sexually harassed bad mislead… but I don’t really see this case making it very far.
We have seen recently as Chicago has tried to reform the organization into the model of a professional inclusive workplace with the Corey Perry thing, and this time when they say they didn’t find any evidence I find it hard not to believe them especially with a third party involved.
Who knows though, maybe this is legit and she’s got a real case but I guess we will find out.