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WILKES-BARRE TWP. &mdash; A former assistant coach for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins is suing the Penguins organization and former head coach Clark Donatelli, alleging that Donatelli sexually assaulted his wife and that the organization tried to keep the incident under wraps.
				Jarrod Skalde, an assistant for the WBS Penguins from 2017 until his termination earlier this year, filed a lawsuit alongside his wife Erin Skalde in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against the Penguins and Donatelli, who served as head coach for the team from 2016-2019.
				The suit alleges that Donatelli sexually assaulted Erin Skalde on a road trip in November 2018, and that the organization retained Donatelli even after the assault was brought to their attention, retaliating against Skalde for reporting the sexual assault.
				According to the lawsuit, originally filed last month:
				Donatelli invited the Skaldes out to dinner with him while the Penguins were on a road trip in Rhode Island during November 2018.
				While Jarrod Skalde stepped away from his wife and Donatelli in order to arrange a ride back to the hotel where the team was staying, Donatelli made unwelcome sexual advances toward Erin, including putting his arm around her and groping her while she told him to stop.
				When her husband returned with a car service to take them back to the hotel, Donatelli insisted that Jarrod sit in front while he sat in the back with Erin. He went on to continue trying to grope her and reached into her pants, despite her efforts to push him away.
				Skalde was unaware that either attack on his wife had taken place until later that night. The Skaldes did not immediately report the sexual assault, fearing retaliation or that the incident could cause a crisis for the Penguins in the middle of the season.
				The lawsuit also alleges that Donatelli had exhibited similar behavior in the past, including an incident in North Carolina where he was asked to leave a restaurant after he allegedly uttered obscentities at and engaged in lewd conduct toward two women.
				The Skaldes confronted Donatelli about the incident in May of 2019, to which he claimed not to remember the incident but vowed to seek help.
				The Penguins terminated Donatelli&rsquo;s employment in June of 2019, but the suit alleges that general manager Bill Guerin told Skalde that the incident &ldquo;has to stay quiet and can&rsquo;t be let out.&rdquo;
				The suit goes on to allege that the Penguins organization would begin to retaliate against Skalde at the onset of the 2019-2020 AHL season, stripping him of some of his duties as assistant coach and keeping him from using the same updated computers as other assistants.
				Skalde was terminated by the Penguins on May 5, being told that the decision was made due to the COVID-19 pandemic and not based on performance. He was approached to take the head coaching job with the Penguins&rsquo; affiliate team in Wheeling, West Virginia, but the organization chose someone else for the position.
				In all, the suit lists five counts for which the Skaldes are seeking relief: assault, battery, negligent retention of an employee, loss of consortium and a count relating to Pennsylvania&rsquo;s whistleblower laws in regard to the retaliation the Skaldes received from the Penguins organization after the sexual assault.
				The Skaldes are seeking relief and damages against the defendants for physical and emotional distress, damages awarded to Jarrod Skalde for lost wages, punitive damage against the defendants for willfully violating the law and a judgement declaring that Donatelli and the Penguins violated Mr. Skalde&rsquo;s rights under the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law.

Former assistant coach sues WBS Penguins alleging assault, cover-up