Penguins reach settlement in alleged sexual assault scandal

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reached an out of court settlement with Erin Skalde, ex-wife of former Wilkes-Barre/Scanton (WBS) Penguins head coach Jarrod Skalde, who alleged she was sexually assaulted by ex WBS Penguins coach John Donatelli in 2019.

For those unaware of Skalde's allegations, they're quite disturbing. The is a story that has been simmering for well over a year now, but the recent findings of the Chicago Blackhawks' investigation and the fact that Kyle Beach has been so outspoken over the past week has really brought this case to the public's consciousness.

Here's a retelling of the allegations from TSN's Rick Westhead dating back to December of last year:

"After the Skaldes and Donatelli had dinner together following a game on Nov. 11, 2018, and prepared to return to their hotel, the Skaldes allege in their claim that Donatelli sexually assaulted Erin when they were briefly alone, first putting his arm around her, calling her “sexy” and pulling her close to him.“

"Mrs. Skalde tried to fight off his sexual advances and told him to stop, but to no avail, as Mr. Donatelli escalated his attack, including reaching his hands into Mrs. Skalde’s shirt and repeatedly touching her breasts,” the lawsuit alleges."

"Skalde returned to his wife and Donatelli a few minutes later and they took a car-ride service back to the hotel. Donatelli insisted that he sit in the back seat with Erin for the ride, and that Skalde sit in the front“Still in shock and uncertain what to do in response to her husband’s boss sexually assaulting her, Mrs. Skalde fearfully entered the back seat of the car, trying to put as much distance between herself and Mr. Donatelli as she could, to avoid him again sexually touching her,” the lawsuit says.“

"Mr. Donatelli resumed his sexual assault and battery of Mrs. Skalde once he had her in the darkness of the backseat. He not only groped her breasts again, but also forced his hands down her pants and touched her vagina, despite her efforts to push him away… 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 has sexually assaulted his wife.”

As shocking as that all is, what's equally as bad is the fact that then Penguins assistant GM and now Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin allegedly ignored Skalde and eventually fired him without cause.

Again from Westhead:

"Skalde alleges that seven months later, when the incident was brought to the attention of Penguins’ assistant general manager Bill Guerin, whose duties included overseeing the NHL team’s AHL operation, Guerin told Skalde to keep quiet about the alleged assault. He alleges the NHL team has violated Pennsylvania’s whistleblower laws and fired him on May 5, 2020, because he complained to the team."

Guerin "emphatically denies" any wrongdoing and claims that as soon as he heard about the allegations he took action. Penguins owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle have both chosen to make no public statement on the allegations and with today's settlement, it appears that they're hoping this entire scandal goes away like dust in the wind.