Editor’s note: This story contains alleged accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at or at https://www.rainn.org
The NHLPA announced on Friday that its independent review of executive director Donald Fehr’s handling of Kyle Beach’s allegations of sexual abuse against former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich found no “individual wrongdoing or institutional failures of policy or procedure.” Philadelphia law firm Cozen O’Connor handled the review.
The case was originally settled between Beach and the Blackhawks back in December. The incident occurred back in May 2010, in which Beach says Aldrich allegedly threatened Beach with a souvenir baseball bat, then forcibly performed oral sex on him and masturbated on Beach’s back.
Various members of the Blackhawks front office met that same month to discuss the allegations. However, Aldrich continued to work for the team during the time of the discussions. He ended up resigning that summer in order to avoid an investigation.
The NHL Players Association did not act on the allegations in 2010. However, in the review done in 2022, the NHLPA was found to have committed no wrongdoing in the case because of “miscommunication and misunderstanding” of the situation at the time. Additionally, Beach was not a member of the NHLPA at the time because he hadn’t played in an NHL game yet.
Here’s the statement released by Cozen O’Connor on its report:
“In sum, after a thorough examination of the contemporaneous record, the policies and practices in place at the union at the time, and the recollections of each of the parties to the contacts with the NHLPA or the SABH program, we cannot identify any individual wrongdoing or institutional failures of policy or procedure by either Fehr, NHLPA personnel, or the SABH program concerning the handling of Beach’s reports. Beach’s warnings about Aldrich were not addressed on account of miscommunication and misunderstanding, rather than any individual or systemic failure.”
The full 20-page report can be read here.
