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The team logo is in the center of the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room before players come in to talk to the media before leaving for the off season two days after being swept by the New York Islanders in the first round of the NHL hockey playoffs, Thursday, April 18, 2019, at their practice facility in Cranberry Township, Pa.
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Penguins facing another lawsuit surrounding sexual abuse allegations

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Penguins facing another lawsuit surrounding sexual abuse allegations

The attorneys for Jarrod and Erin Skalde announced Tuesday morning that another civil lawsuit would be filed against the Penguins, this one in Rhode Island.

In a press release, Romanucci & Blandin, LLC said the complaint will name as defendants the Penguins organization, Clark Donatelli, Bill Guerin, Pittsburgh Penguins LP, Lemieux Group LP and co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle.

Jarrod, a former assistant coach with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and his wife, Erin, allege that Donatelli, former head coach of the AHL club, sexually abused Erin Skalde on a team road trip to Providence, R.I., on Nov. 11, 2018 and that the Penguins later fired Skalde for reporting it.

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Jarrod and Erin Skalde filed a similar lawsuit in Pennsylvania last November. That case reportedly remains active, with the latest development being that the organization’s motion for arbitration instead of a jury trial was denied on Sept. 30.

In the earlier lawsuit — filed Nov. 3, 2020 in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania against the Penguins, the Lemieux Group LP and Donatelli — Skalde said he reported the incident to Guerin on June 21, 2019. Guerin, currently the general manager for the Minnesota Wild, was the GM in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton then.

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. A team press release cited “personal reasons.” The earlier lawsuit alleged that Guerin told Skalde to “stay quiet” about the alleged assault.

Guerin has publicly denied saying that and claims he immediately went through the proper channels once the alleged incident was brought to his attention.

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Skalde remained with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2020-21 season, staying on as an assistant under Donatelli’s replacement, Mike Vellucci. Skalde, now coaching in Europe, alleges the Penguins fired him last May because he complained to the team and by doing so they violated Pennsylvania’s whistleblower laws.

The Penguins maintain that the accusations were handled appropriately.

“We took this Wilkes-Barre/Scranton incident very seriously and acted immediately,” the Penguins said Tuesday in a statement. “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 reported the incident.

“Immediately upon receiving the report, a full investigation was conducted within 72 hours, and the former coach resigned from the organization. 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 attorneys for the Skaldes were set to hold a press conference Tuesday at 3 p.m., but that was postponed when they announced a second woman who detailed a similar assault by Donatelli retained the law firm.

Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.

First Published: November 2, 2021, 4:34 p.m.

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The team logo is in the center of the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room before players come in to talk to the media before leaving for the off season two days after being swept by the New York Islanders in the first round of the NHL hockey playoffs, Thursday, April 18, 2019, at their practice facility in Cranberry Township, Pa.  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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