News Article: Penguins told AHL coach to "stay quiet" about wife's sexual assault, lawsuit says

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

It’s bizarre how tight lipped the organization is besides JR spewing bullshit every other week to whoever will listen.

Maybe he's kind of a useful idiot in that way? When everyone is all outraged and confused about the old codger ranting and raving about bumble bee nickels and Letang maybe sorta possibly kinda but not really getting traded, it's much less likely you have to actually answer any real questions about real things. JR is always willing to step in front of a microphone and just... say stuff. And the local media dingalings are always willing to run with it.

 

[SomeDude]

Yeah the local media has always been... not so good. But they've really put the clown makeup on heavy lately.

Of course this particular story would have never been printed regardless. Would not be allowed. You wanna lose your access? Because that's how you lose your access. I don't think it's a coincidence that basically every story is a puff piece about McCann's new puppy or whatever.

It's very possible they wouldn't want to touch this out of fear of losing access, but by many accounts JR and Rossi almost had a fist fight and his stupid face is still in the background of every media scrum leads me to believe that they would be okay. I think they are just really bad at their jobs.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

It's very possible they wouldn't want to touch this out of fear of losing access, but by many accounts JR and Rossi almost had a fist fight and his stupid face is still in the background of every media scrum leads me to believe that they would be okay. I think they are just really bad at their jobs.

I'm extremely willing to accept that possibility too lol

 

[BHD]

Deplorable... absolutely deplorable.

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

Is it sufficient to allow the guy to resign quietly? My feeling is no, that sweeping it under the rug and not reporting it for criminal charge purposes is almost as bad as committing the act itself. If GMJR and anyone else knew about this he should be fired immediately. He should probably be fired regardless as he was in charge.

 

[ColePens]

Lot to unpack in that disgusting article. A lot to unpack. I would say it's imperative to let the courts play out. The sexual assault part of it, if found guilty, should lead people to much longer jail time than it probably does IMO. As for the Pens play in all of this - let that play out in court, too. It seems Guerin is tied to this? It was hard to follow the whole thing probably because it was so disgusting.

But ultimately if found guilty, and i'm talking about the Pens side of this, then Guerin should be ashamed and lose his job. I don't understand why anyone would say keep it quiet. That is just such a backwards mindset. As for the sexual assault - legit go to jail if guilty. I do not care. I do not want apologies. I do not care. Go to jail.

But like I said - it's not for me to decide and i hope the courts figure it out.

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

Lot to unpack in that disgusting article. A lot to unpack. I would say it's imperative to let the courts play out. The sexual assault part of it, if found guilty, should lead people to much longer jail time than it probably does IMO. As for the Pens play in all of this - let that play out in court, too. It seems Guerin is tied to this? It was hard to follow the whole thing probably because it was so disgusting.

But ultimately if found guilty, and i'm talking about the Pens side of this, then Guerin should be ashamed and lose his job. I don't understand why anyone would say keep it quiet. That is just such a backwards mindset. As for the sexual assault - legit go to jail if guilty. I do not care. I do not want apologies. I do not care. Go to jail.

But like I said - it's not for me to decide and i hope the courts figure it out.

This isn't just Guerin, Cole. Guerin brought it to the org's legal department. JR and possibly Morehouse would've been briefed on why they were letting their AHL head coach go, no? Their jobs should be in jeopardy pending investigation. This could reverberate through the entire organization and could dramatically impact the future of the management team.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

But ultimately if found guilty, and i'm talking about the Pens side of this, then Guerin should be ashamed and lose his job. I don't understand why anyone would say keep it quiet. That is just such a backwards mindset.

Guerin strikes me as a pretty backwards kind of guy.

 

[SomeDude]

Is it sufficient to allow the guy to resign quietly? My feeling is no, that sweeping it under the rug and not reporting it for criminal charge purposes is almost as bad as committing the act itself. If GMJR and anyone else knew about this he should be fired immediately. He should probably be fired regardless as he was in charge.

Looking at it objectively, the only issue I have is that they let him "resign." The optimist in me wants to believe they did this because if they had said they were firing him for personal reasons, there would have been digging and they did not want the victim to have to go through having the incident becoming public. The obvious part where they went out of line was when Guerin told him to keep it quiet. Was this from Guerin himself and not from someone above him or in the legal department? I doubt it, but you never know.

 

[SomeDude]

Guerin strikes me as a pretty backwards kind of guy.

Really, this guy? He looks like he's on the up and up to me. Doesn't look anything like a villain from a children's movie.

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

Looking at it objectively, the only issue I have is that they let him "resign." The optimist in me wants to believe they did this because it they had said they were firing him for personal reasons, there would have been digging and they did not want the victim to have to go through having the incident becoming public. The obvious part where they went out of line was when Guerin told him to keep it quiet. Was this from Guerin himself and not from someone above him or in the legal department? I doubt it, but you never know.

I think what will be most impactful is the blurb about how "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. Donatelli’s misconduct… was well-known by the Penguins management, but tolerated because he was a successful coach."

Enabling a predator, letting him resign with dignity, keeping it quiet, and not allowing authorities to investigate for criminal proceedings. Big accusations that go beyond Guerin.

 

[Mario_is_BACK!!]

This isn't just Guerin, Cole. Guerin brought it to the org's legal department. JR and possibly Morehouse would've been briefed on why they were letting their AHL head coach go, no? Their jobs should be in jeopardy pending investigation. This could reverberate through the entire organization and could dramatically impact the future of the management team.

What ever happened they clearly judged his behavior poor enough and had enough evidence to terminate him “on his own terms.” Which means upper brass knew something was happening and covered it up. It even says in the article they were aware of behaviors beyond this that led to the outcome. Anyone involved, whether this goes to court or not, should see some form of punishment for allowing a behavior that’s fit for termination go on with their knowledge.

 

[Peat]

Tbf to the Pittsburgh media, this isn't really local to them. It's four hours away and none of them give a rat's shit about WBS most of the time. There's no reason for them to dig into the dismissal of a coach who's not doing great there. The only knock on them is if this was common knowledge in the front office in Pittsburgh and they didn't get it, and we don't know if that's the case. We don't even know how much Rutherford knew. Presumably some? But how much?

I guess wait and see what comes out.

 

[SomeDude]

I think what will be most impactful is the blurb about how "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. Donatelli’s misconduct… was well-known by the Penguins management, but tolerated because he was a successful coach."

Enabling a predator, letting him resign with dignity, keeping it quiet, and not allowing authorities to investigate for criminal proceedings. Big accusations that go beyond Guerin.

Very true. I guess we'll see what comes out through the process (unless they just pay them off and we never hear anymore), but the fact their lawyer is trying to get it dismissed on a legal technicality is not a good look.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Really, this guy? He looks like he's on the up and up to me. Doesn't look anything like a villain from a children's movie.

He kinda looks like Michael Keaton if things had turned out MUCH douchier for him.

Or Vince McMahon after about 30 cheeseburgers and a tanning bed.

 

[Peat]

Actually - question - where is the org's legal liability if they know of complaints about sexual misconduct but they didn't pass them to the police?

 

[SomeDude]

He kinda looks like Michael Keaton if things had turned out MUCH douchier for him.

Or Vince McMahon after about 30 cheeseburgers and a tanning bed.

Bill Guerin is Tim Curry in Home Alone 2.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Bill Guerin is Tim Curry in Home Alone 2.

Holy shit

 

[SomeDude]

Actually - question - where is the org's legal liability if they know of complaints about sexual misconduct but they didn't pass them to the police?

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but they wouldn't be considered mandated reporters (like teachers and health care workers), so I'm not sure there is any legal obligation.

 

[ColePens]

This isn't just Guerin, Cole. Guerin brought it to the org's legal department. JR and possibly Morehouse would've been briefed on why they were letting their AHL head coach go, no? Their jobs should be in jeopardy pending investigation. This could reverberate through the entire organization and could dramatically impact the future of the management team.

So while i share your utter disgust with what I had to read, I still implore anyone to let full details and all court proceedings move and then make those decisions. I understand the sense of urgency as we do not want to simply give the idea of welcoming that criminal act. At the same time, we should let the courts proceed and once all the evidence is out there - the owners need to make their determination and it better be swift.

But to rush to that, I'm not so sure. I am probably leaning your way of how I would imagine it goes down.

 

[57special]

Wild fan here.

So, the Pens said, "Hey, we've got a problem with a sexual predator. Let's follow the lead of some large organizations like the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts!'

JFC. First Fenton, now this. As others have said, it's not the Pens that were at fault for the assault, unless they knew about other such instances. It's their insistence on keeping it quiet. Even worse, their stupidity in firing a guy who they were relying on to keep it quiet.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Guerin may have been the point man on this, but considering that the Pens legal team got immediately involved and Donatelli was axed, management all the way to the top knew about this. The team DID act once they were made aware, which is good. Ownership would have known at that time. The issue at hand is that they tried to keep it quiet and then laid off the victim/spouse of the victim suspiciously soon after. Ownership would have been aware of all of it. I feel a little sick now after reading this article.

Edit: spouse of victim

 

[Mario_is_BACK!!]

So while i share your utter disgust with what I had to read, I still implore anyone to let full details and all court proceedings move and then make those decisions. I understand the sense of urgency as we do not want to simply give the idea of welcoming that criminal act. At the same time, we should let the courts proceed and once all the evidence is out there - the owners need to make their determination and it better be swift.

But to rush to that, I'm not so sure. I am probably leaning your way of how I would imagine it goes down.

Even if THIS is a nothing instance (I’m guessing it’s not) the organization still knew of a pattern of other instances, both sexual and not, that led to his termination and covered that up. No matter what approach you take this doesn’t look good for them.

 

[Gurglesons]

Actually - question - where is the org's legal liability if they know of complaints about sexual misconduct but they didn't pass them to the police?

0.

 

[heysmilinstrange]

Wild fan here.

It's their insistence on keeping it quiet. Even worse, their stupidity in firing a guy who they were relying on to keep it quiet.

Yes, and now the person responsible is running your team. Enjoy.