Players and staff also reported that staff members engaged in a wide variety of unprofessional behavior that blurred professional boundaries, including staff: (i) drinking alcohol to excess with players; (ii) living in player apartment complexes; (iii) holding meetings with players in hotel rooms; (iv) organizing frequent social interactions with players; and (v) communicating in an unprofessional manner. He stated that the club sought to address Simon's concerns through the severance agreement, including by securing Holly's removal from his apartment in a complex shared by Simon and requiring that Holly not disparage players or the club. In addition, while Cromwell and Greene denied knowing who made complaints about them during the March Investigation, the evidence suggests that they formed a belief as to which players made complaints or spoke negatively about them in connection with the March Investigation. Hendrix said Simon shared Holly's comment with her, and Holly's "nonchalant response to Simon asking him to stop touching her made them wonder if he was "doing something to someone else." Reis was placed on unpaid administrative leave and is required to participate in mandatory training regarding retaliation, discrimination, harassment and bullying, and must participate in mandatory executive coaching. Likewise, at least two players expressed surprise that Amanda Cromwell had been hired as head coach of the Pride despite concerns arising from her tenure at UCLA. On a different occasion, Dames called Stanton into his office and told her she was playing poorly. We felt like charity," one player explained. This behavior contrasted with other periods during which he would ignore Shim. During this time, Duffy, who had recently become NWSL president, and Levine, who had transitioned to the role of NWSL general counsel, worked with NWSL communications staff to prepare a draft public statement (which was never publicly released) related to the handling of sexual harassment complaints and the Riley investigation. 2. Even following the League's adoption of an Anti-Harassment Policy, players faced inconsistent policies at the club and NWSL levels governing conduct by NWSL stakeholders. Ryans three-year deal with Gotham highlights a shared commitment to making the team a Girma is everywhere she needs to be at exactly the right time. Some clubs provide housing for both staff and players, and in some cases, staff and players lived in the same apartment complexes. Even in Vancouver, Riley pushed Shim to stay the night with him. One player said that the observed closeness between Holly and the staff member created a crazy, weird power dynamic," where the staff member was given improper decision-making authority over issues like nutrition. 97, In an email exchange in July 2017, Sky Blue owner Steven Temares asked Novo whether "Christy has a relationship that takes advantage of any player or makes his independence as a coach questionable among the players." In December 2013, Whisler emailed Cheryl Bailey that he had "sat with [a player] and addressed" her concerns about Dames; he then speculated, "Whatever the [player's] story is now it is window dressing likely because she wants more money." These biases are central to any evaluation of misconduct in the League.. Even when provided with anonymous reporting channels during the course of this independent joint investigation, including through the NWSLPA, some players expressed skepticism that reports would be appropriately handled due to historical distrust in the League. The same day, U.S. Soccer announced that it was launching an independent investigation into reports of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women's professional soccer, to be conducted by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates of King & Spalding LLP (the USSF Investigation"). Please sign in below. Alyse LaHue made unwanted sexual advances toward a player. In his interview by the Joint Investigative Team, Clarkson acknowledged having this meeting with players, but reported that he did not single out or attack any players. Of the ten clubs that were in operation in October 2021, seven did not have dedicated HR staff tasked with receiving complaints or reports of misconduct and with investigating misconduct. coach, and Alyse LaHue, the former general manager of Gotham F.C., each received two-year suspensions from the league. 99, In addition, investigation findings were often not memorialized such that they could be Levine explained to the Joint Investigative Team that she made the report "the day [she] learned of [the] sexual relationship between [Riley] and a player," referring to Farrelly. On the evening of the announcement of LaHues firing from Gotham, a statement was provided by Kelly Hoffman, attorney for Alyse LaHue via Meg Linehan of The Athletic on Twitter reading: Ms. Farrelly sat on Riley's lap, though she felt strange doing so, and she described that Riley grabbed her hips. Riley told her to get on his hotel bed to go over film, though she saw there was no film on the television. Development of an Anti-Harassment Policy. They used derogatory and insulting language towards players, displayed insensitivity towards players' mental health, and engaged in retaliation against players who attempted to report or did report concerns. ", - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.). The teammate told her to put her phone away and not show the message to anybody. It is hard to overstate how much the conversation has changed around Sky Blue FC in less than a year, with Tammy Murphy taking on a lead role on behalf of ownership, and Alyse LaHue serving as. Wilkinson responded that the trade was "purely a player move that made sense." Player survey comments alleging that NWSL or club staff have engaged in misconduct should be assessed and, where appropriate, investigated. The league retained Covington & Burling LLP, while the NWSLPA retained Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Nonetheless, the Joint Investigative Team faced a number of limitations throughout the investigation. The Joint Investigative Team promptly conducted a thorough investigation and, based on the evidence, found that Wilkinson did not engage in wrongdoing or violate the Anti-Harassment Policy. Levine claimed that their failure to do so "contributed to [Riley's] remaining in the League until Farrelly and Shim went public in September 2021. Conduct Reference Checks for All Prospective Owners, Coaches, and other Club Staff Who May Interact With Players Johnson recalled Flynn describing the incident as "a moment of poor judgment. Johnson said he did not understand from the conversation with Flynn that the incident had played a role in Riley's departure from the Thorns; rather, Johnson understood from Riley and from media reports that Riley's departure was related to a team performance issue. As early as June 2021, players reported that Holly had shouted at and personally attacked" players who had gone to him for one-on-one feedback. Multiple witnesses reported romantic relationships between players and staff members, which disrupted team environments, blurred professional boundaries, and in some cases, contributed to the mistreatment of players. From her perspective, the concerns about Dames were not an emergency situation because the players identified as Dames's primary targets were no longer with the team" and the issues involved "older conduct." One player reported that club staff living in the same housing as players led to unprofessional interactions. By allowing Riley to continue coaching in the NWSL, the League conveyed its continuing implicit approval of him, despite the information Plush received and the concerns that he expressed to others. * Confusion Over the Role of SafeSport The League received reports of misconduct by Dames, but the League did not follow up on the results of the 2018 U.S. Soccer investigation into those reports. In February 2016, after learning that the Flash were set to announce Riley's hire as head coach, Plush wrote in an email to Gulati, Flynn, and Levine, that he guess[ed] Wilkinson may have "helped [Riley] with [Lines]," and that he had given Golub's phone number to the Flash's then-general manager. Multiple players voiced concerns to the Joint Investigative Team regarding vague public statements that obscured the reason for departures, mainly for coaches. The player wondered, "Are you going to get a jokey type of day, or is he going to make your life hell that day?" It was not until June 2021, when Benstiti gave a speech in which he criticized players' diets, that the club took action. 8 When asked whether she could have compelled Chicago Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler to obey a League instruction not to speak with players in relation to an investigation, former U.S. Soccer and NWSL General Counsel Lisa Levine stated that the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors-of which Whisler was a member at the time-had shown that it was not inclined to act to discipline clubs. The club announced Holly's termination "for cause on August 31, 2021. The Athletic recounted the experiences of two former players, Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly, and reported that Riley sexually coerced players, provided alcohol to players and drank excessively with them, and made derogatory comments about players' weight and sexual orientation. The player said she and the others felt like "[they were] never going to play again." However, in a June 14, 2018 email, Wahlke informed Flynn and then-U.S. Soccer Chief Commercial Officer Jay Berhalter that she had "expressly taken [the investigation] over from [the NWSL]" because it overlapped with U.S. Soccer's ongoing review. In practice, players reported issues to someone at their club because they had more day-to-day interactions with club personnel, who were more akin to the players' actual employers. They may need to navigate conversations about how players' fitness or injury recovery impact performance. 4. The NWSL's Non-Fraternization Policy, adopted in 2018, states: "No person in management or a supervisory position with a Team or the League shall have a romantic or dating relationship with a League or team employee whom he or she directly supervises or whose terms or conditions of employment he or she may influence." And the report ties those biases to issues in the sport as a whole. As a result, several players felt that they needed to apologize for participating in or failing to stop the March Investigation. Multiple players and club staff interviewed by the Joint Investigative Team also expressed distrust of the League, concerns about confidentiality, and fear of retaliation for participating in the investigation. In multiple investigations by the NWSL, no written report, summary, or other record of findings was prepared, and findings were not broadly shared. It explicitly requires club employees to elevate all reports of misconduct to the League and clearly states that the League will investigate such reports. Other players reported instances of Dames texting players late at night, commenting on players' appearances, and "routinely" taking "some of his favorites out to dinner." The training for coaches and other club staff should encourage athlete-centered coaching (focusing on the holistic development of players), effective partnerships between coaches and players, and soccer-specific constructive criticism. Jill Ellis, then-Head Coach of the USWNT, was also emailed copies of certain player survey results. The NWSL should engage with players and staff of color and LGBTQIA+ players and staff to understand and develop channels for reporting misconduct that are safe and comfortable for individuals in these groups to use. Rather than removing Dames, reprimanding him, or initiating an investigation into players' allegations of abuse, Whisler continually defended Dames and expressed suspicion about players' motives for raising concerns. The statement also claimed that investigators provided Ms. LaHue a few documents that contained alterations. In certain instances, these coaches justified their behavior by relying on the rationale that the behavior was "cultural" or by doubling down on claims that their behavior was oriented around fitness. E. 9 The Flash announced Riley as their head coach in February 2016. This mandatory anti-harassment training should be interactive and provide opportunities for participants to ask questions. The report found that Riley had (i) violated instructions by Wilkinson not to socialize with players "when alcohol was involved; (ii) engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional behavior and exercised poor judgment by sending inappropriate text messages, not establishing and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries, inviting players to his apartment, serving alcohol to players, dancing with a player and touching her while doing so, inviting a player to his hotel room, having one-on-one dinners (and involving alcohol), having one-on-one game film sessions in his apartment, and failing to notify his supervisor of the July 5 email; and (iii) likely violated his employment contract by doing so. One night in May 2015, members of the Thorns went to a bar in Portland following a home game. In one instance, players said they felt confined to their hotel on their day off because Dames told them that each player would have to meet with him "within five minutes of him calling them or they would be cut from the team, but did not give them advance notice of the meeting times. In March 2016, Paulson emailed Alex Sahlen congratulating the Flash on hiring Riley and stating that he had a lot of affection" for Riley. Starr recalled that a couple of weeks later, she met with Simon again, and Simon informed her that the abuse had been "going on for a while." The club ultimately elected to retain Riley as head coach, but this decision was similarly affected by the Thorns's, U.S. Soccer's, and the NWSL's lack of transparency about Riley's misconduct. The NWSL should share the nature of the misconduct with U.S. Soccer while protecting the confidentiality of anyone who experienced discrimination, harassment, bullying, or other forms of abuse, to the extent feasible. One player recounted feeling like Dames picked the players who did not "have power to report him," while those with "more status in the League" were given his trust and respect. B. I'm the Inquirer's soccer reporter, covering the Union, MLS, the NWSL, the U.S. men's and women's national teams, and Philadelphia's place in the world's game. Further, the Joint Investigative Team found that the NWSL investigation put the complainant at risk of retaliation and failed to adequately prevent interference from the Red Stars. In text messages to Dames, Whisler spoke negatively of Press and expressed suspicion about players' motives for raising concerns. 37, harshly criticized Kurtz's weight. Coaches also should not be in a direct supervisory position over club medical staff and should not be in a position to unilaterally terminate or otherwise impose disciplinary action on medical staff without consulting with the managers of the club. In general, players felt that the line between tough coaching and emotional misconduct is crossed when it becomes an attack, versus a criticism." soccer career. LaHue's inappropriate messages continued even after the player told LaHue that it felt like LaHue was acting like a jealous girlfriend," and asked LaHue to "accept that we are working together and nothing more. The player explained that although she repeatedly pushed back against LaHue's inappropriate One player who witnessed this incident described that Dames's comments that had nothing to do with actually playing soccer" were constant." Following the revelations of Riley's sexual misconduct on Sept. 30, 2021, the NWSL and the NWSLPA separately sought to conduct investigations. The location of Shim's and Farrelly's interviews-the Thorns's stadium-was not an appropriate setting for such a sensitive conversation and contributed to Shim feeling uncomfortable and concerned that staff would see her being interviewed. In addition, the Joint Investigative Team reviewed materials from the short-lived NWSL investigation and spoke to individuals involved with that investigation. In August 2020, Holly was named head coach of Racing Louisville, and in November 2020, Holly selected Simon in the expansion draft. SafeSport produces over a dozen "abuse awareness and prevention courses, and all NWSL employees (including players) and club employees are required to participate in at least one training course developed by SafeSport. If coaching staff repeatedly ignore medical advice or pressure players to do so, the NWSL should impose disciplinary action against those coaches. For example, one player recalled reaching out to an owner regarding a housing stipend that clubs could provide to players. Prior to the event, he forwarded Shim an email containing his hotel reservation-one room with a king bed-and asked Shim to stay with him. The Joint Investigative Team collected documents and other materials from a variety of sources, including the NWSL, its member clubs, the NWSLPA, U.S. Soccer, and various individuals. 59, said that the staff member allowed the player "to get things reimbursed that didn't qualify" for reimbursement. The perception of closeness between Riley and the Thorns front office was not limited to players; former NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush remarked in an email, after learning that Riley had been hired at the Flash in 2016, that his guess" was that Wilkinson "helped" Riley with the Flash. 51, with an erection. (1) While the conclusion stated that Dames (i) yelled excessively; (ii) targeted players; and (iii) behaved unpredictably, it mentioned none of the other concerns about Dames. Riley grabbed Shim, pulled her back against him, and tried to grind against her. "Even after repeated requests and lengthy negotiations, U.S. Soccer did not meaningfully respond to the Joint Investigative Team's requests until shortly before and again after the USSF Report was released. A player and a former Sky Blue staff member both said that the environment at Sky Blue unraveled" when the team learned that Holly was dating Pearce Rampone. The NDA between Holly and Racing Louisville caused various problems, including for investigators trying to obtain evidence. Using language drafted in part by Levine, Baird exchanged a few emails with Shim, and during one such exchange, Shim emphasized that given the League's inaction" in response to her 2015 complaint, she was concerned for current players; she requested confirmation that "these issues will be investigated and that appropriate corrective action will be taken to ensure that abusers are not permitted to coach in the NWSL." Harrington was found to have "made inappropriate sexual and objectifying comments," and LaHue was found to have sent players inappropriate messages, the N.W.S.L. The investigation focused on misconduct by NWSL employees and club staff directed at players. Simon described her fear that reporting Holly's misconduct could destroy her career after he insinuated to her that he had orchestrated her youth national team call-up; she recalled thinking, He could ruin me." 1. The Joint Investigative Team also committed, with the authorization of the NWSL and the NWSLPA, to protect the confidentiality of players who reported inappropriate conduct they experienced or witnessed to the extent permitted by law. Plush was aware in September 2015 that Sky Blue was interested in hiring Riley, and he stated to the Joint Investigative Team that he told Sky Blue not to hire Riley. Players also described a patronizing culture that many saw as inextricably tied to gender bias. Pride leadership held a call with players and staff in which they were informed generally that some reports had been substantiated and some had not. While some clubs have provided anti-harassment training to staff and players, the NWSL should develop and implement mandatory, uniform NWSL-wide trainings that address topics related to the Anti-Harassment Policy and that provide concrete examples of appropriate and inappropriate conduct. 24, film sessions at his apartment with Shim, had dinner alone with Shim one night, sent inappropriate text messages to Shim, and deleted Shim's July email to him stating Riley's conduct was inappropriate without notifying his superiors about the email. Although Clarkson advocated for the development of a mental health program at the Dash, he also demonstrated insensitivity towards players' mental health in his interactions with them. Both at the bar and as they were walking after the bar closed, Riley brought up Shim's and Farrelly's sexual orientations and raised the notion of the two players getting together. Shim needed to use the restroom, and Riley offered the use of his bathroom in his nearby apartment. 3. Players and staff at the Red Stars said that the close relationship between Head Coach Rory Dames and club owner Arnim Whisler made them feel that raising complaints to ownership would be pointless. On October 11, 2022, Paulson further stated that he was removing himself as CEO of the Thorns and the Portland Timbers, and was announcing a search for a permanent CEO. December 14, 2022 Additionally, Paulson told the Joint Investigative Team that Wahlke contacted him at that time regarding Riley, and the two discussed the Thorns's 2015 investigation. 1. The League should request mutual cooperation and informationsharing from U.S. Soccer and other organizations to ensure the League is made aware of findings of misconduct concerning candidates seeking employment in the NWSL. James Clarkson (Houston Dash, Head Coach and General Manager, 2019-) 57, older, all of his friends would want to sleep over at her house-which the player understood as an insinuation about her attractiveness. When asked if he recalled coaches and players ever going to strip clubs together, Harrington recalled one instance after a game where staff and players went to a strip club together. Starr went to Simon's apartment that evening to let her know she had reported Holly's abuse but had not given Simon's name. In 2019, as the national team players departed for the World Cup, Kurtz expected to have opportunities to start for the Courage. One club staff member stated that Dames would give the team three days off, but would not inform them until the day before, leaving the team "stuck [and] not able to get out of Illinois. The staff member said, I don't know if that's him being controlling, but also noted that it felt like Dames didn't like people leaving market." players." Riley and Holly were not the only club staff members reported to have made unwanted sexual advances toward players. While the NWSL has recently improved its hiring practices and background check processes, background and reputational checks should be enhanced, and the NWSL should establish formal procedures to facilitate information-sharing among clubs. Both a staff member and players expressed that they believed Whisler "knew about [Dames's] emotional and verbal abuse towards players" but took no action. Under the 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy, the League "prohibits reprisal or retaliation against anyone for engaging in the following Protected Activity: filing a good faith report under this Policy; supporting or assisting, in good faith, someone else in pursuing a report or in an investigation; objecting to misconduct; or filing, testifying, assisting or participating in any manner in any investigation, proceeding or hearing conducted by a governmental enforcement agency." Two former staff members recalled reporting to Wilkinson concerns they had about Riley's treatment of players; one of the staff members said Wilkinson dismissed the staff member's concerns and told the staff member to "support the coaching staff." Oversight Committee Composition and Operation When confronted by the team's captains about his response, Clarkson said that the players "should be scared.". Simon recalled Holly often telling her when he tried to cross boundaries that if she would "loosen up" and "have more fun" off the field, it could "help her on the field." The Courage also received some assurance about Riley from other club leaders and from the NWSL, including the fact that Riley had been hired by the Flash after departing the Thorns. In a separate conversation with Dames, Whisler revealed that he had also spoken to a different player about the complaint. It was not until August 2021 that the league implemented a process requiring clubs to submit head coaching candidates to the league for vetting and approval. Predmore responded that the club's "primary objective was "to remove [Benstiti] from the role as quickly as possible" and the question of resignation or termination was an important, but secondary concern." Interviewees reported that the performance staff told Clarkson that the player was dealing with altitude sickness (Mexico City is over 7300 feet above sea level).