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Lawsuit claims Penguins told coach to keep accusations of sexual assault quiet

Former Assistant Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins says his wife was sexually assaulted

Clark Donatelli
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing serious accusations, according to a lawsuit.

TSN's Rick Westhead reports that a lawsuit claims the team kept a coach they knew had a history of sexual harassment and allegedly assaulting another coach's wife during a road trip.


Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' former assistant coach Jarrod Skalde claims that in 2018, then head coach Clark Donatelli assaulted his wife during a road trip in Providence, R.I.

The lawsuit is against the Penguins and ownership, the Lemieux Group.

The allegations have not been proven and a lawyer for the Penguins told TSN that the team filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Donatelli reportedly grouped Mrs. Skalde's breasts and touched her vagina in the backseat of a car they were in while on the road trip.

The lawsuit says that several months later, Skalde told Penguins' then assistant general manager Bill Guerin about the incident and that he was told to keep quiet about it.

TSN says Skalde, "alleges the NHL team has violated Pennsylvania's whistleblower laws and fired him on May 5, 2020, because he complained to the team."

Guerin left the Penguins in 2019 to become the general manager of the Minnesota Wild.

Guerin declined to comment through the Wild's communication's department and Donatelli's lawyer also declined comment.

The Skaldes are requesting damages for physical and emotional pain, but the amount of money they are seeking has not been revealed.

"The team investigated and took immediate action in June 2019 when notified of the alleged incident, which Mr. Skalde reported seven months after it allegedly occurred," A lawyer for the Penguins wrote asking the case to be dismissed. "Mr. Skalde continued to coach for the team [Wilkes-Barre/Scranton] for an additional year, when his contract was not renewed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The allegations made against the team have no merit, and we have moved to dismiss the complaint."

Donatelli resigned as the Penguins AHL coach in June of 2019 for personal reasons.

Former Assistant Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins says his wife was sexually assaulted