Former Chicago Blackhawks employee sues team for sexual harassment, fraud, and breach of contract: Reports

By Ankit Kumar

Modified May 15, 2024 18:24 GMT

Nina Sanders, a Native American woman who previously worked for the Chicago Blackhawks and their charity, the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation, has sued them for breach of oral contract, fraud, sexual harassment, and other violations.

During an exclusive interview with CBS Chicago, Sanders stated that her primary objective in her initial role was to bridge the gap between the Blackhawks and the Native American community. Nevertheless, she says that instead of support, she got marginalized and finally an unwelcome exit from her position. She said that she felt used and disappointed by the experience.

The Chicago Blackhawks hired Nina Sanders in 2020 based on her experience in community relations, especially with a decade of working with respected institutions like Chicago's Field Museum and the Smithsonian's American Indian Museum. Her main goal was to connect the gaps and promote understanding, especially due to the controversy over the team's name and logo.

In a 2020 protest, the statue of the team's logo was defaced and painted. Sanders was hired in the same year to work on building a relationship with the organization and the tribe.

The lawsuit mentions that Sanders attempted to contact the Black Hawk tribe, the Sac and Fox Nation, and tried to convince them to reconsider the team's logo. The tribe was not on board with the branding as some people thought it was culturally insensitive. Sanders was the one who initiated the talks in May 2021 between the tribe and the Blackhawks' leadership, she thought that the change was around the corner.

Nevertheless, following subsequent events, including a partnership announcement between the team and the tribe, Sanders feel betrayed and sidelined.

"I opened doors for the Blackhawks because people wouldn't work with them," said Sanders.

"I think it became clear that there was no intention to change the logo," Sanders said. "I felt like they basically used me."

"I built relationships with my own trusted native colleagues," she added. "and once they figured out how to do it, they pushed me out."

Besides the logo discussions, Sanders accuses the organization of sexual harassment, quoting inappropriate advances, unwarranted physical contact, and the sharing of explicit videos without her consent. She states that she had reported these incidents internally, but the inaction and the later attempt to silence her by changing her position and workplace happened.

Sanders' legal representation provided details regarding the team's alleged failure to address her complaints.

"They expel her, they fire her, they get rid of her, they terminate the relationship with her," said Jacobson, her legal representative.

The lawsuit also accuses the Chicago Blackhawks of fraud, alleging that they misled Sanders about the logo changes and the Native American initiatives, which were significant factors in her decision to accept the job.

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Chicago Blackhawks' response to the harassment and contract fraud allegations

The Chicago Blackhawks have denied these charges, stating that the internal investigations revealed that there was not enough evidence to back Sanders' assertions of harassment. The team gave differing responses to Sanders' representatives and to CBS inquiries.

In the teams' July 2023 response to Sanders' representatives, they said that Sanders reported the incidents after the termination of her contract. But when asked by CBS they mentioned that Sanders' did not accept the new contract that was offered to her.