The Dark Side of Eugene Melnyk - Stories shared about the late billionaires issues
Eugene Melnyk passed away after a length battle with a health issue on March 28th. The Ottawa Senators owner had proudly battled illness behind the scenes for awhile before losing his battle. Positive stories about Melnyk began to be shared by those closest to him, but today The Athletic released an article sharing some of Melnyk's shamed behavior captured behind the scenes.
On February 8th, 2019 the Senators released their "Love is Love" campaign to try and reach out to members of the local community who had felt left out or under represented. This was a huge step forward for the Sens organization, but apparently not something Eugene Melnyk approved of.
After seeing the Twitter campaign Melnyk, who was incensed, immediately called the person in charge and had this to say:
We are the laughing stock of the NHL right now!
They think we are so desperate that we have to advertise to gays now. Dogs and gays.
The reference to dogs referred to the Senators commitment in the community to local animal rescues where they'd ran promotions earlier in the season. Despite Melnyk's objections the campaign ran as advertise as part of the NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone".
There were also reports of workplace abuse. The Athletic shared the following story of one employee in particular, who had suffered the brunt of Melnyk's abuse:
FUCKING C --T-WHO DO
YOU THINK YOU ARE? WHEN I
SAY CALL YOU DO IT. WHEN I
TELL YOU TO D0 SOMETHING
YOU DO IT. YOU ARE DONE!
In an email received a month earlier Melnyk sent the following message:
You are a no one.
These emails have been reviewed and verified by The Athletic. This unfortunately goes on to show the issues and struggles that went on behind the scenes.
As the Senators work to find their next owner, hopefully whoever takes over can help to fix the toxic culture behind the scenes.
