Lightning organization rocked by sexual-assault scandal

This just in, according to a report from Anastasia Dawson of the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Bay Lightning organization has been rocked by allegations of sexual-assault from one of its former youth hockey coaches.

Check it out:

An unnamed 23 year old woman claims she lost her job after reporting that she was sexually assaulted by a Lightning executive during a team trip in the summer of 2018. According to the lawsuit, the woman began working for the Lightning in 2016 and was repeatedly “subjected to disparate, discriminatory, and harassing treatment based on her sex.”

Details from Dawson’s article for the Tampa Bay Times:

In court documents, the woman alleges she was sexually harassed and, during a work trip, sexually assaulted by coworker Aaron Humphrey, community hockey coordinator for the Lightning and an associate coach with the University of South Florida Ice Bulls hockey team.

The assault occurred during an overnight company trip to Pensacola by the woman and five men, the lawsuit says. She repeatedly resisted Humphrey’s advances but he sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit says.

When she returned to work, the woman was “scared and unsure as to how to handle the situation” and at first tried to act as if nothing had happened. But the harassment continued as she refused to engage in a sexual relationship with Humphrey, the lawsuit says.

In March 2018, the woman ran into Humphrey at Hattricks, a bar and restaurant near the Lightning’s Amalie Arena. She “attempted to have a conversation” with Humphrey so she could ask him to leave her alone, the lawsuit says.

“Mr. Humphrey responded by laughing and by shoving his hand down (the woman’s) pants,” the lawsuit says. She “immediately told him to stop and walked away from him.”

Still, the discrimination continued, the lawsuit says. The woman was subject to increased scrutiny of her work performance, passed over for a promotion and given formal write-ups for behavior common among her coworkers.

In June 2018, the woman filed a formal complaint with Jay Feaster, vice president of community hockey development for the Tampa Bay Lightning, requesting to meet in person, the lawsuit says. Feaster declined, assuring the woman he would refer her complaint to human resources to “handle the situation” with Humphrey, the lawsuit says.

The Lightning organization have declined to comment on the pending litigation as a matter of company policy. Suffice it to say, there’s still a LOT more to come out with regards to this scandal.