Consultant Sues NHL Team for Fraud, Broken Promises, and Harassment

Author:

Olivia Phillips

|Published: May 17th, 2024

A consultant hired by Chicago's NHL team to enhance relationships with American Indigenous tribes has filed a lawsuit against the team, its charity foundation, and its CEO, alleging fraud, breach of contract, and sexual harassment.

Nina Sanders filed the civil lawsuit late Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court. According to her, the team faced significant public pressure in 2020 to change their name and logo.

That year, the team's CEO, Dan Wirtz, brought her on as a tribal liaison.

The lawsuit claims that Wirtz promised to create positions for Indigenous Americans, purchase land to donate to the Sac and Fox Nation and alter the team's logo if she accepted the job.

Sanders alleges she took the position based on these commitments, none of which Wirtz fulfilled.

Sanders further alleges that in 2021, she reported to her immediate supervisor that an employee had sexually harassed her and tried to coerce her into his hotel room.

Despite her complaints, the harassment persisted into 2022, with no action taken by the team.

Additionally, Sanders claims to have reported two other incidents involving male employees groping women, but these too were ignored.

The lawsuit states that Wirtz terminated Sanders' contract last summer.

A team spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon requesting comment.

In a statement to WBBM-TV, the team acknowledged "operational issues" with Sanders' work, noting that external partners had expressed a reluctance to collaborate with her.

Despite these concerns, the team offered Sanders a new contract in 2023, which she declined.

The team also mentioned that they investigated Sanders' sexual harassment allegations but found insufficient evidence to support them.