The Ottawa Senators announced Friday that assistant general manager Randy Lee has been suspended.
Lee pleaded not guilty to a second-degree harassment charge after allegedly rubbing the shoulders of a 19-year-old and making lewd comments while the teenager was driving a hotel shuttle in Buffalo, N.Y., last month. The next court appearance for the longtime Senators executive is scheduled for July 6, during which a verdict is expected.
MORE: Shuttle driver obtains order of protection against Randy Lee, report says
Until then, Senators' general manager Pierre Dorion said his assistant will be suspended.
"Questions that must be answered by Randy are unlikely to be addressed until his next court date - on July 6, 2018 - we believe the best way to live our values and enforce our standards of behaviour is to suspend Randy Lee until the allegations against him are ruled upon by the courts," Dorion said in a statement. "The suspension is effective immediately and applies both to Lee's work with the Ottawa Senators and our AHL team in Belleville."
the Senators announce that Randy Lee has been suspended until a court verdict is rendered pic.twitter.com/hJmFmK5fhV
— Evan Sporer (@ev_sporer) June 15, 2018
It had been reported that Lee's attorney had the upcoming court date pushed to July 6 in order to allow Lee to attend the 2018 NHL Draft, but the suspension by the Senators renders that action moot.
In wake of the incident, the teenager's family is ready to take legal action against the Senators. The family reportedly retained a civil lawyer, according to the Ottawa Citizen's Gary Dimmock.