Jarrod Skalde, a former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton assistant coach, has filed a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Penguins claiming that his former boss sexually assaulted his wife and that he was fired for reporting the incident to the team.
The lawsuit alleged that Clark Donatelli, who at the time was head coach for the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, sexually assaulted Skalde’s wife Nov. 11, 2018, on a team road trip in Rhode Island.
In the lawsuit — filed Nov. 3 in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania against the Penguins, the Lemieux Group LP and Donatelli — Skalde said he reported the incident to then-WBS general manager Bill Guerin on June 21, 2019.
On June 27, 2019, Donatelli suddenly resigned as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach, two days after he led a practice at prospect development camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The team’s press release cited “personal reasons.”
The lawsuit alleged that Guerin, who in August 2019 was hired as GM for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, told Skalde to “stay quiet” about the alleged assault.
Skalde remained with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the following season, staying on as an assistant under Donatelli’s replacement, Mike Vellucci. The 2019-20 AHL season was suspended March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was canceled by the league on May 10.
Skalde alleges the Penguins fired him on May 5 because he complained to the team and by doing so violated Pennsylvania’s whistleblower laws. Skalde, who joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s staff before the start of the 2017-18 season, is now head coach for Cardiff of the Elite Ice Hockey League in England.
The Skaldes requested damages for physical and emotional pain, mental suffering and income loss. The lawsuit stated they seek more than $75,000.
The lawsuit also claimed Donatelli “was a serial offender” with “countless other episodes of inappropriate conduct by Mr. Donatelli, sexual and otherwise, which apparently the Penguins were aware of but did little or nothing to stop.”
The Penguins on Nov. 23 filed a motion to dismiss the case, with Penguins lawyer Lori Armstrong Halber writing that “the team investigated and took immediate action in June 2019 when notified of the alleged incident.”
“Mr. Skalde continued to coach for the team [in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton] for an additional year, when his contract was not renewed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Armstrong Halber wrote. “The allegations made against the team have no merit, and we have moved to dismiss the complaint.”
TSN, the Canadian television network, first reported the news of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Jarrod and Erin Skalde and Donatelli went to dinner in Providence, R.I., following a game on Nov. 11, 2018, and that while Jarrod Skalde called a car service, Donatelli “repeatedly” touched his wife’s breasts.
The lawsuit then alleges Donatelli “resumed his sexual assault and battery” during the car ride back to the team hotel, with Jarrod Skalde in the passenger seat of the car, and Erin Skalde and Donatelli sitting together in the back seat. Donatelli allegedly groped her breasts and forced his hand down her pants.
“Only later did Mr. Skalde find out what happened to his wife that night, shaking him to the core to learn that he had sat unknowingly in the front seat as his boss had sexually assaulted his wife,” the lawsuit said, explaining that prior to the car ride, Skalde was not aware of the first assault that allegedly occurred.
Skalde reportedly told TSN that no charges were ever filed with police.
The Penguins released a statement Tuesday concerning the lawsuit.
“We took this incident very seriously and acted immediately,” the statement read. “The team investigated and addressed the alleged incident within hours of being notified in June 2019 despite the fact that Mr. Skalde delayed seven months before he made any complaint.
“Following the report, Mr. Skalde continued to coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for an additional year, until we made significant staff reductions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The lawsuit said that the Skalde waited seven months to bring the allegations to team management because “they had never experienced such an attack and were unsure what to do.” The Skaldes also were worried it “could lead to retaliation and create a crisis” for the AHL team and its players during the season.
The lawsuit alleges Skalde confronted Donatelli about the incident on May 15, 2019 and that six days later, Donatelli apologized and pledged to tell Guerin what had happened. The lawsuit said that when Donatelli failed to follow through, Skalde at the 2019 NHL draft in Vancouver told Guerin about the incident.
A week later, the Penguins announced Vellucci would replace Donatelli.
Speaking with reporters on June 28, 2019, Guerin was vague about the circumstances that led to Donatelli’s departure from the organization. He indicated that the resignation didn’t come out of nowhere, saying the Penguins had “a number of discussions” about Donatelli’s future and June 27 “was the day” that he resigned.
Donatelli was hired as coach for the Wheeling Nailers, Pittsburgh’s East Coast Hockey League affiliate, in 2011. He was promoted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015 after Mike Sullivan was elevated to head coach of the NHL club. Donatelli led the AHL team to three playoff appearances and the league’s best regular season record in 2016-17.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: December 8, 2020, 4:37 p.m.
