[News] NHL will not discipline Cheveldayoff with respect to Brad Aldrich

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Lonestar

I'm with Warrener, if ANYONE knew, it's their responsibility as a human to take the information to law enforcement.

Originally Posted by ricardodw

So Cheveldayoff should have pressed the issue and basically "outed" Beach who obviously was not ready to go public with this.

Skills coach Paul Vincent was the first person that Beach told and provided positive support with as much information on the situation as anyone. Should of he called the police? Provided warning to Notre Dame?

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Yes. He did more than almost anyone else, and beach seems to be OK with his level of action, but yes.

As for "outing" Beach, reporting to the police is no such thing, nor is pressing the issue with management, who already knew.

You know what happens if you report to police? They're going to investigate. They're going to ask questions. They're going to want to find evidence. They're surely going to try to find out who the victim is so that they can build a case. All those things can be harmful to the victim.

That's why I'm uncomfortable with the level of absolutism a lot of people here are displaying. Beach was capable of going to law enforcement if he wanted to. To make that decision for him takes away his agency and what little control he has over the situation. There are of course benefits to reporting, but they come at a cost. And I think it's fair to consider that maybe the decision should be left to the person who would have to pay those costs. In other cases, particularly where there is the potential for other victims (as happened here), one might decide that is it justified to report against the victims wishes, but that is not a decision to be made lightly.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by SebC

You know what happens if you report to police? They're going to investigate. They're going to ask questions. They're going to want to find evidence. They're surely going to try to find out who the victim is so that they can build a case. All those things can be harmful to the victim.

That's why I'm uncomfortable with the level of absolutism a lot of people here are displaying. Beach was capable of going to law enforcement if he wanted to. To make that decision for him takes away his agency and what little control he has over the situation. There are of course benefits to reporting, but they come at a cost. And I think it's fair to consider that maybe the decision should be left to the person who would have to pay those costs. In other cases, particularly where there is the potential for other victims (as happened here), one might decide that is it justified to report against the victims wishes, but that is not a decision to be made lightly.

Who said make the decision lightly? They made no decision at all.

Yes the police will investigate and yes they will contact the victim. Confidentially. That’s still not “outing” a guy who already contacted his team and his NHLPA.

Beach himself wishes he’d gone to law enforcement. Did any of them ask him if that’s what he wanted? Nope. They just made fun of him.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Beach himself wishes he’d gone to law enforcement.

Yes, in hindsight.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Would we not all respect Chevy more if he said “I was there, I was afraid to speak out because I was a new AGM just hired that year, so many senior guys were taking a different approach and I didn’t fully get the impact of the accusations. I wish I’d spoken up and helped Beach. But I just didn’t and I regret it completely.”

Absolutely, instead he lied and got caught and chose to stay on as GM. Now the Jets ownership has to do the right thing and dismiss him. If they don't the backlash will be neverending. I know a few Jets fans who have said they refused to support the team until he is gone.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

This might be the worst press conference I’ve ever seen. Chevy and Chipman know how this works. Drone on and on, give no sound bites, be as monotonous as possible. It’s just painful to watch.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

This might be the worst press conference I’ve ever seen. Chevy and Chipman know how this works. Drone on and on, give no sound bites, be as monotonous as possible. It’s just painful to watch.

He’s certainly trying to make himself sound like he’s a great guy who would never let this happen under his watch.

Gotta say I don’t think Westhead asks great questions in this setting.

ETA: His comments on Sheldon Kennedy were confusing to me. He talked about being the last team he played for, but unless he was talking about the Manitoba Moose (which Chevy had nothing to do with) I have no idea what team he was talking about. And he was talking about guys welcoming him into the room.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by woob

I think they got this wrong. Merely by being in a management type position, does he not have some responsibility to follow up on this, especially when he sees Aldrich around and then celebrating with the team?

And then add in him not being truthful about his involvement to start with, but then owning up to it?

In my mind; Sure he was a lower seniority in the room, but the cover-up and inaction and then denials of knowledge should be enough of a reason for discipline.

He was the Assistant General Manager of a multi-million dollar sports franchise, and one of the premier sports franchises in all of North America. That's a pretty significant level of authority, and comes with a commensurate amount of responsibility.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

He was the Assistant General Manager of a multi-million dollar sports franchise, and one of the premier sports franchises in all of North America. That's a pretty significant level of authority, and comes with a commensurate amount of responsibility.

What exactly did he have authority over? What exactly was he responsible for?

[Azure]

Given there was actual an investigation with significant legal issues when it comes to lying, I'd imagine Chevy is being quite truthful when he talks about how little he knew.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

What exactly did he have authority over? What exactly was he responsible for?

When you're a senior manager in a large and very public organization, you should not feel the need to keep in your lane with respect to matters that throw serious doubt on the integrity of the organization. That's exactly how things like this are allowed to continue.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

What exactly did he have authority over? What exactly was he responsible for?

“Not my job” is what you’re going with?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Azure

Given there was actual an investigation with significant legal issues when it comes to lying, I'd imagine Chevy is being quite truthful when he talks about how little he knew.

There’s no real issues with shading and spinning to the press. He’s not under oath.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

There’s no real issues with shading and spinning to the press. He’s not under oath.

There’s a lawsuit though, during which he’s likely to be under oath. How do you think the rest of his career/life would go if he’s saying what he’s saying now, but says something entirely different in court?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

There’s a lawsuit though, during which he’s likely to be under oath. How do you think the rest of his career/life would go if he’s saying what he’s saying now, but says something entirely different in court?

He was pretty careful to say today “well, technically I wasn’t lying”. When he was being completely misleading before. I’m not sure he really is too worried about that.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

There’s no real issues with shading and spinning to the press. He’s not under oath.

Huh? There are big legal ramifications, including the big lawsuit the Blackhawks & NHL are trying to bury.

He is effectively under oath right now.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Azure

Huh? There are big legal ramifications, including the big lawsuit the Blackhawks & NHL are trying to bury.

He is effectively under oath right now.

Well, no he isn’t. And what I’m saying is that he’s not saying anything now that can be pinned down as a “lie”. He already has claimed his earlier statement wasn’t a lie. When it was pretty darn misleading.

I don’t see the NHL trying to bury any lawsuit. They aren’t being sued.

In fact they threw Chicago under the bus when talking about it yesterday, saying Chicago misled them about the merits of the suit.

[Strange Brew]

The quote I read on social media attached to Cheveldayoff " (Beach was) failed by a system that should have helped him...I'm sorry that my own assumptions about that system weren't good enough".

Everyone so scared of the repercussions back to them that you get drivel like that. Hopefully he is a better leader than that quote would indicate.

[Enoch Root]

Sure, Cheveldayoff was only the AGM, so it 'wasn't his responsibility'.

However, IMO, for something this egregious, you have to clean house. You have to remove all management that was present, unless they can demonstrate that they spoke up against the strategy that was taken. Everyone has some responsibility

[djsFlames]

[Paraphrasing]

"Chevy, did you attempt to follow up or reach out to Beach in the weeks to follow to see how he was coping with what had happened?"

"No, I hadn't really dealt with the player. I assumed that someone closer to the situation was overseeing things and that it had been dealt with."

This is what gets me deep in the feels and is exactly the problem. Maybe he just knew of "harassment", maybe he knew more, but the complete absence of thought or action to ensure the well being of the victim that really kills me about the individuals that choose to be passive in such situations.

Just no second thought for beach. No consideration. No asking around on his behalf. No revisiting. No empathy.

We need to do better as people, but especially as people overseeing fellow humans within a business or organization.

Thats simply not good enough.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Macindoc

When you're a senior manager in a large and very public organization, you should not feel the need to keep in your lane with respect to matters that throw serious doubt on the integrity of the organization. That's exactly how things like this are allowed to continue.

First of all, not keeping in their lane is one of the best ways for senior managers to get fired.

Secondly, ‘assistant GM’ in the NHL is not a senior management position. It's pretty much the bottom level of management, there may be multiple people with that title, and their duties vary widely from one team to another and even from one AGM to another in the organization.

Originally Posted by GioforPM

“Not my job” is what you’re going with?

Try ‘no authority to override the people who were supposed to be doing that job’.

I believe it was mentioned that several of the people at the crucial meeting didn't even remember that Cheveldayoff was there. That doesn't make it sound like he had enough authority for anyone even to bother paying attention to him. It appears that nobody involved was required to report to him, and a year after the incident he was out of the organization.

Aldrich was dealt with by the Blackhawks' HR department, and after that, I don't suppose Cheveldayoff was privy to any information that showed the incident had not been adequately dealt with. If he had gone public about it, it would have been with incomplete evidence, legally classifiable as hearsay. He couldn't have filed a credible police report unless other Blackhawks employees were willing to be involved.

Now, I could be wrong about these things, but clearly Bettman and the investigators did not find any proof that would implicate Cheveldayoff beyond his presence at the meeting. I don't believe that in itself constitutes grounds to fire him from a different job at a different employer over a decade later.