A former Chicago Blackhawks public relations manager has filed a lawsuit against the team, accusing a supervisor of discriminating against him because he is gay, and firing him over an interview with an LGBTQ+ sports website.
Anthony Filomena filed the civil rights lawsuit on Thursday in federal court in Chicago, accusing his supervisor of “treating [Filomena] differently than other similarly situated employees he supervised, discriminating against him because he was a homosexual male.”
Filomena also claims when he filed a complaint with the team’s human resources department accusing his supervisor of “hostile and aggressive actions,” his supervisor retaliated against him by increasing his hostile actions, and “yelling and berating” Filomena in his office loud enough for others to hear.
The lawsuit claims Filomena was fired from his position as manager of public relations on May 3, 2024, after complaining to his supervisor that he was being criticized for giving an interview to Outsports, a website covering LGBTQ+ athletes and issues in sports, “to share his experiences as being a homosexual male in the world of a professional hockey organization.”
According to the lawsuit, Filomena had received direct approval from team owner Danny Wirtz before the interview, and that Wirtz believed it would help the team’s reputation in the LGBTQ+ community.
Filomena’s lawsuit claims he was fired one day after he told his supervisor subsequent criticism he faced from other bosses inside the organization was a result of discrimination based on his sexual orientation.
A termination letter claimed he lacked authorization for his interview with Outsports, “an assertion that was false and pretextual,” according to the lawsuit.
“I was fired for something I can’t change, and I didn’t do anything wrong, and I know that. Someone just tells you, follow me, and you’re gone. Get out. Everything you’ve done for two years, all the friendships you’ve made, all the relationships around this city you built. [They] don’t care. They used me to get in the door with so many connections around this city,” Filomena said in an interview with CBS News Chicago before filing his lawsuit.
In a statement, the Blackhawks claimed Filomena was fired for “multiple instances of misconduct over a period of six months.”
He received multiple written communications outlining expectations including a formal, final written warning prior to his dismissal. His termination was solely due to continued misconduct and disregard for our company policies,” the team said.
But the lawsuit claimed Filomena received a perfect rating on a performance review one month before he was fired, and said the team’s allegations of misconduct and poor performance were “fabricated, exaggerated, or not the actual basis for the decision.”
Filomena’s lawsuit seeks compensation for back pay with interest, lost benefits and future pay, attorneys’ fees, and compensatory and punitive damages. It also claims his firing has caused Filomena to suffer “mental anguish, emotional distress, humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life.”
“Where do I go from here? For two years, I was the publicist for the Blackhawks around this entire town, and now I’m just struggling to make ends meet and make sure that I don’t lose my apartment and my dogs. I’m a grown 33-year-old man that put myself through college and everything on my own, and now I have to think about what I’m doing now. I shouldn’t have to think that. I shouldn’t have to be scared for my livelihood on a daily basis,” Filomena told CBS News Chicago.
Samah Assad
contributed to this report.
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