NHL facing referee lawsuit weeks after former Oiler was hired as new official
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
According to a recent report, a former AHL referee that was passed-up by the NHL is claiming age discrimination and is taking the National Hockey League to court by way of a jury trial.
The claimant is 35 year-old former ECHL and AHL defenseman Chris Rumble, whom after retiring from playing in 2022, attended the NHL's Exposure Combine, a program that identifies potential referee candidates.
Rumble was successful at the Combine and was assigned referee work in the USHL, and advanced to the AHL the year following, though he didn't quality to referee in the AHL post-season because he only had one-year of experience, so he was told.
Yet, you may recall former-Oiler Ben Betker, a 6th-round Edmonton pick in 2013 that retired at the age of 30, who was hired by the NHL to referee its games beginning next season.
Ben Betker also only has one-year of refereeing experience in the AHL and ECHL, just like Chris Rumble, and is several years younger than Rumble.
Chris Rumble has taken issue with his not being hired by the NHL, in particular in light of Ben Betker's advancement to the NHL, and yet another NHL ref-hire, Brody Sutter, who was retained under similar circumstances, and is himself also younger than Chris Rumble.
Following is are three excerpts from Rumble's lawsuit, filed in a New York City County court - it is not the complete claim:
'Text messages exchanged among Mr. Smith, Mr. Kimmel, and Mr. Walkom (NHL executives) show that Mr. Rumble's age was discussed as a point of concern; he was thirty-two years old at the time.
Mr. Rumble was excluded from the 2023-2024 [AHL] playoffs and was told this was due to the fact it was his first season in the AHL. However, another AHL first-year referee, Brody Sutter, was chosen for the playoffs, and Mr. Sutter is a year and a half younger than Mr. Rumble. This led Mr. Rumble to call Mr. Edwards and Mr. Racicot to discuss the apparent age discrimination he was facing; Mr. Edwards stated that age discrimination is illegal and whoever told Mr. Rumble that he was too old, was incorrect.
The concerns regarding Mr. Rumble's age contradicted with the positive performance feedback he continuously received and was led to believe he would eventually be hired by the NHL.'
Chris Rumble is seeking damages based on lost wages and benefits, including back pay, as well as compensatory and punitive damages. He has requested a jury trial.
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