A former employee has filed a lawsuit against the NHL and the Anaheim Ducks, alleging a pattern of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination during her tenure. The plaintiff, Rose Harris, claims that her experiences while working as an IT Coordinator for OC Sports and Entertainment (OCSE) from July 2022 to December 2024 were marked by repeated and unchecked misconduct.
Harris alleges that she was subjected to “nonconsensual sexualized touching” and faced a barrage of “vulgar, sexist, and derogatory comments,” including homophobic slurs. In her lawsuit, she specifically names Nick Aguilera, a former member of the OCSE public relations team, as one of the primary offenders. Harris claims Aguilera engaged in unwanted physical contact and spread false rumors about a sexual relationship between the two, prompting further harassment from colleagues.
The issues did not stop with Aguilera. Harris asserts that the Ducks’ equipment managers joined in the harassment, making derogatory remarks and perpetuating the false claims about a sexual relationship. According to the lawsuit, Harris reported the harassment to OCSE’s human resources department, which acknowledged that policies had likely been violated but failed to take any significant corrective actions.
Ultimately, Harris resigned in December 2024, shortly before accepting a position with the NHL’s front office in New York, starting in January 2025. Her complaint alleges that OCSE conspired to terminate her employment with the NHL after learning of her new position. Harris claims that once OCSE discovered she was working for the league, they informed Patrice Distler, the NHL’s Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, about her status as a “sexual harassment victim and adverse witness” in a separate legal proceeding initiated by her former colleague, Katherine Pearson.
In the legal filing, Harris describes a troubling incident where she was assigned to work on a ticket related to Distler’s email. Shortly thereafter, she alleges that Distler accused her of hacking the email and terminated her employment immediately. The lawsuit claims that the NHL did not provide any evidence to substantiate the hacking accusation and that all of Harris’s electronic devices were returned directly to Distler.
Harris further alleges that both the NHL and OCSE have continued to “blacklist” her within the sports industry, making it challenging for her to secure future employment. She is seeking punitive damages for the alleged harassment and discrimination.
ESPN has reached out for comments from both the NHL and OCSE regarding the allegations presented in Harris’s lawsuit. The outcome of this case could have significant implications for workplace conduct within professional sports organizations.
