Pens accused of protecting coach they knew to be a sexual harasser
Some serious allegations have been made against the Pittsburgh Penguins organization in a lawsuit filed by a former assistant coach with the Penguins' AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Jarrod Skalde, a former assistant coach with WBS, alleges that then Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Clark Donatelli assaulted his wife, Erin, when the three of them were in a car together during a team road trip in Providence, R.I in late 2018.
Skalde's lawsuit, which has not yet been tested in court, alleges he and his wife went to dinner with Donatelli and were getting ready to go back to their hotel when Donatelli sexually assaulted Skalde's wife 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.
The three then entered a car service to ride back to the hotel, with Donatelli allegedly insisting he ride in the back with Mrs. Skalde.
“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.”
Skalde's lawsuit alleges he brought the concerns to Penguins' assistant general manager Bill Guerin seven months later and was told to keep quiet. He also claims he was fired months later because he brought forward the allegations of sexual assault.
The Pittsburgh Penguins ownership group is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed, saying "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. 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."
The Skaldes said they didn't immediately report the alleged assault "because they had never experienced such an attack and were unsure what to do."
"Donatelli claimed he was too drunk to recall the events of the night in question, but six days later, he met with Jarrod Skalde and apologized,” the claim says. After Erin Skalde confronted Donatelli, the lawsuit says “Donatelli pledged to Mr. and Mrs. Skalde that he would change his ways, seek help, and come forward to the Penguins' assistant general manager Billy Guerin about what he had done.”
When this didn't happen, Skalde said he went to Guerin himself. Guerin has since moved on to the Minnesota Wild. On June 28, 2019, the Penguins announced Donatelli had resigned for personal reasons.
In their lawsuit, the Skaldes allege that they learned of “countless other episodes of inappropriate conduct by Mr. Donatelli, sexual and otherwise, which apparently the Penguins were aware of but did little or nothing to stop. Donatelli's misconduct… was well-known by the Penguins management, but tolerated because he was a successful coach.”
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6 JUIN 2026
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| B | P | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brandon Bussi | - | - | - | |
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