The Chicago Blackhawks, already tarnished by past scandals, are once again in the hot seat, now facing a lawsuit from former consultant Nina Sanders, who claims the team manipulated her with false promises regarding their controversial logo. According to Sanders, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz assured her the franchise would change its Native American logo and foster closer ties with the local Native community. But once she took on the consulting role and brokered meetings with the Blackhawk tribe, Sanders alleges the team reversed course.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, details Sanders’s claims that the Blackhawks used her influence within the Native community under false pretenses, allegedly to improve their public image without intending to make real changes. She says Wirtz originally promised to alter the logo, buy land for the tribe, and establish positions for Native Americans. Instead, the Blackhawks reportedly secured tribal approval to keep the logo, offering the tribe $100,000 in grants and a decommissioned $250,000 Black Hawk helicopter.
Sanders’s lawsuit also alleges she was ousted after facilitating these connections, with the Blackhawks asserting she chose not to renew her contract. “I built relationships with my own trusted native colleagues,” Sanders said to CBS Chicago, “and once they figured out how to do it, they pushed me out.”
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding the Blackhawks, a team that has faced backlash over everything from player misconduct to organizational scandals. Now, this new legal battle casts further doubt on the franchise’s public commitments to the Native American community.
