Before the season, Holly invited Simon to his home on two occasions to watch film, telling her that Pearce Rampone would be there. While Sky Blue FC still might not be a first-place team, the differences off the pitch are shaping how the players perform on the pitch. The club immediately terminated the staff member for violating club policy. In November 2021, the league established an additional temporary protocol mandating all coaches, general managers, and president hires be approved by the league and complete a New Hire Certification, including background checks. The League should also require that any non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions allow for the disclosure of information to law enforcement. In addition, some clubs did not historically offer anonymous reporting channels for players, which resulted in players not coming forward out of fear of retaliation. One player recalled that the men's team was allowed to train on better practice fields, and the women were asked to train on inferior fields despite the availability of better fields near where the men practiced, apparently because the men's team found it distracting to practice near the women. The NWSL should provide training and guidance to the clubs on the types of questions to ask.
1.
Development of an Anti-Harassment Policy. You moron.' (There have already been consequences since the Yates report, including Merritt Paulson and Arnim Whisler agreeing to sell the Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars, respectively.). The 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy provides that emotional misconduct may include "belittling players about their body image or weight." The 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement introduced free agency for a subset of players that meet certain service requirements. On today's episode of the Dynamic Leaders Podcast, Colin is joined by Alyse LaHue.
The NWSL should consider providing resources to support players and staff working to advance the interests of diverse and marginalized groups. One player reported that former OL Reign Head Coach Farid Benstiti announced to players, "If I see you eat snacks, I will kill you." Nonetheless, the Joint Investigative Team faced a number of limitations throughout the investigation. As one player described, Riley made it seem like "he had a direct line" to the USWNT head coach, and so as a player "you were willing to do everything he said to get you there." The two players found it difficult to identify reporting channels, whether anonymous or not, at either the NWSL or the Thorns. The policy should provide clear definitions and explanations of microaggressions so staff and players can identify and understand them, and it should explain how microaggressions and racist, antisemitic, and other derogatory language can constitute harassment. While the organization cut back its spending in 2002 and 2003, it could not recover financially. Paul Riley engaged in sexual misconduct towards Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim.
. The report says he declined to respond to requests to participate in this investigation., READ MORE: Megan Rapinoe criticizes Paul Riley, who briefly coached her on the Philadelphia Independence. Farrelly reported to the Joint Investigative Team that she did not go into the interview with Garcia planning to disclose that history and instead planned to respond to the specific questions asked. Malik later called her back and stated there had apparently been an incident involving two players kissing in front of Riley. Prioritize DEI Initiatives to Create a More Inclusive Environment for All Players and Staff
beers, shots, whatever. This same player said that Riley would be at the bar "from the time" the players arrived until after players left.
Players at the Current said that the friendly relationship between Huw Williams and club owners Chris and Angie Long, dating back to Williams's management of the Longs's daughter's youth soccer club, affected players' ability to report misconduct. Another NWSL employee expressed concern that criminal background checks are insufficient: "None of the issues we had last year with our coaches would have been discovered unless a reputation check had been conducted before they were hired. In total, the Joint Investigative Team reviewed approximately 200,000 documents. As discussed above, the USSF Dames Investigation resulted in a draft" report. According to the report, one player recalled that players "felt forced to attend" social interactions with Dames, and if they did not, he "wouldn't look at [them] the next day at practice." 4. These partnerships should provide regular formal opportunities to explore concerns and receive feedback from members of these groups. At the end of the investigation, the Joint Investigative Team delivered this Report to the NWSL and NWSLPA. Kurtz further detailed to investigators incidents of weight-shaming by Riley, noting that she developed an eating disorder. The majority of NWSL coaches have been men. A PDF version of this document with embedded text is available at the link below: Report of the
The 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy defines emotional misconduct as deliberate, noncontact behavior that has the potential to cause emotional or psychological harm to another person," including verbal, physical, or other acts that deny attention or support to or degrade, insult, sabotage, humiliate, belittle, berate, and/or single out, ignore, or reject an individual. In certain circumstances, NWSL personnel maliciously threatening to waive, bench, or trade
On at least one occasion, he mandated that a player "weigh in" on a daily basis and told her that she would not see the field until she hit a certain weight. According to Levine's notes from that conversation, Whisler immediately guessed which player had raised the complaint, then speculated that the player had "lost her starting job and might be "trying to take [Dames] out." 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." During the interview, Farrelly described the night that she and Shim had kissed in Riley's apartment, and she said she had seen some of Riley's inappropriate text messages to Shim. Horan also said "the French coach was very brutal with it." The player spoke to Levine and Duffy later that day to explain her concerns. For example, players on multiple teams recalled either being chased down to be yelled at or watching their coach physically follow their teammates to berate them in a way that bystanders recognized as unacceptable. face allegations of misconduct. To keep costs under control, U.S. Soccer would provide funding for the League front office, pay the salaries of USWNT players, and pursuant to the Management Agreement, administer management, governance, operational, administrative and advisory services. Under the Management Agreement, the League was subject to U.S. Soccer's decision-making in operational areas such as sponsorships and marketing, operations, player affairs, communications, and legal. After the article was published, six years after Shim had raised the alarm about Riley to the Thorns and the NWSL, Riley was fired by the Courage. Ten days before the first game she expected to start, Riley
I didn't accept it." In an interview with the Joint Investigative Team, Gulati stated he could not recall being aware in 2014 of player survey comments from that year indicating Riley was verbally abusive. report said.
On the evening of the announcement of LaHue's firing from Gotham, a statement was provided by Kelly Hoffman, attorney for Alyse LaHue via Meg Linehan of The Athletic on Twitter reading: "Ms. LaHue denies the allegations made against her and will make no further comment." No further information was made public until October 2022. Dames also texted a player after a fundraising event they both attended and told her that she looked nice that evening. According to Garcia's interview notes, her interview with Farrelly lasted only 30 minutes, though Farrelly recalled it being even shorter. 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. The background checks should continue to be conducted by professional employment services companies in a manner consistent with any applicable legal restrictions and guidelines. Her resignation followed screenshots posted on Twitter by Alex Morgan, a member of the USWNT and former Thorns player, which showed Baird had denied an April 2021 request from Sinead Farrelly to reopen the investigation into Riley. As the report states, there is a clear lack of guidance provided to players regarding what constitutes misconduct. After several months, the staff member notified the club of the romantic relationship with the player and resigned. However, Gulati told the Joint Investigative Team that he did not tell Dorrance anything about the 2015 allegations or investigation of Riley. A player from another club recalled players feeling like they would not be protected if they spoke up about a coach's misconduct, and the player also expressed fear that she would be traded or cut if she raised concerns about her coach. Even when these meetings were strictly professional, players expressed discomfort with meeting coaches in their hotel rooms. This reduces the risk that the concentration of power in a single individual will chill reporting of misconduct.
Development of an Anti-Harassment Policy
For example, players noted that Pauw wanted to exert control over "every aspect of [their] lives," including everything you were putting in your body, every exercise you were doing."
Plush also said he spoke to Lines and Alex Sahlen in January 2016, encouraging them to look elsewhere for a new coach." Multiple players reported that there was an overlap between these players and those who had been vocal at the meeting. Rather, working closely with U.S. Soccer, she proceeded "stepwise" until she felt she had collected enough information to speak to Dames and Whisler. By the time Levine and Duffy spoke to the two players they interviewed other than the complainant, Whisler had already spoken to both of them. Why not talk to me?" The Joint Investigative Team then investigated those reports or, in limited instances, referred the reports to an appropriate entity, including U.S. Soccer, the League, and individual clubs, for investigation. 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. The Joint Investigative Team also took into account whether conduct complied with professional coaching standards. Predmore notified the players that Benstiti would be removed from his role as head coach. But the story had been percolating since June 28, when I reported via Twitter that Alyse LaHue was away from the team. The report further established that Riley had two one-on-one
The USSF Dames Report noted that Dames denied knowing the impact of his demands, but the report did not find his denial to be credible. Baird consulted Levine-who had worked as general counsel for U.S. Soccer in 2015, and for the NWSL since 2017, and who had been kept closely apprised of the 2015 Thorns Investigation when it occurred-on how to respond. Although Novo said he shared these concerns with others at the club, key decision-makers within the club did not recall Novo telling them about Holly's mistreatment of players. 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. No further mentions of LaHue are made in the report. Text messages between Whisler and Dames in the days following the complaint suggest that Levines approach to the investigation increased the risk of both retaliation against players and interference with the investigation. From these conversations, the Courage said it understood that an investigation into Riley had been conducted and that Riley had exhibited poor judgment," the same language used in the Thorns's 2015 investigative report to describe Riley's conduct. 1. One player remarked that rumors [got] around" because of the player-staff relationship, and a staff member said that while you could articulate a policy of "church and state . The conclusion mentioned none of these concerns.
Players also described a patronizing culture that many saw as inextricably tied to gender bias. Players
Players at the Dash told the Joint Investigative Team that they were unsure where to report misconduct by James Clarkson because they believed that he and club President John Walker were "best friends." Shim declined, and she traveled to Vancouver with her then-partner instead, along with Farrelly and her then-partner. This is too much.
The NWSLPA retained Weil to conduct this investigation. Another player said she felt that Whisler had "loyalty" to Dames and did not hear" players' concerns. In addition, players provided specific examples of Dames commenting on players' personal appearances, making racially insensitive comments, and controlling players. This includes harassment; sexual harassment; discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, or any other protected status under federal, state, or local laws; bullying; sexual misconduct, including the use of coercion, force, intimidation, or certain power imbalances; emotional misconduct; physical misconduct; and retaliation. Failure to Identify Reporting Channels and Obligations in Club AntiHarassment Policies
NWSL staff responsible for reviewing player survey results were not trained on how to handle player survey responses suggesting misconduct against players. In a written statement to the Joint Investigative Team, Plush contended that he was "very clear" with Malik that the Courage should not retain Riley and that Malik should reach out to Paulson to understand why Riley was "no longer coaching in Portland. Plush said he made Malik aware that the Thorns had conducted an investigation into Riley, though he acknowledged he did not disclose the investigative findings or conclusions because he had been advised by counsel that this information was "confidential" and was not the League's information to share. 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. While the investigation was ongoing, Dames was not suspended and there was no intermediary action to prevent further misconduct that could harm current players on the Red Stars. One player identified by Cromwell and Greene as having been involved in the March 2022 investigation was informed that the club was either waiving her or buying out her contract. Club policies only listed club personnelincluding supervisors, club presidents, other members of club management, and club HR departments-as potential reporting channels. I just played for [my team].
In the fall of 2021, the Joint Investigative Team asked clubs to produce their antiharassment policies, and this Report analyzes the policies received from that request, some of which were implemented only recently. The Spirit suspended Burke pending an investigation initiated shortly after the Washington Post article was published, and the club fired him on September 28, 2021, following the completion of that investigation. As became evident to some of the witnesses in 2015, the investigation appeared to be focused more on determining whether Shim might have a legal claim and on limiting the club's liability than on thorough fact-gathering. The clause prevented Dames from making any negative, critical, or disparaging remarks about Whisler or the Red Stars, but did not restrict Dames's remarks about players. The Joint Investigative Team requested an interview with Holly, and he initially agreed to be interviewed. 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. The NWSL should share with all clubs when a club employee is removed from a club due to a finding of misconduct under the Anti-Harassment Policy. At the start of 2022, with the termination of U.S. Soccer's allocation system, the NWSLPA expanded its representation to include USWNT players competing in the NWSL. I had no avenue to communicate with the League, or whatever that even meant. In response to her request, Courage Assistant General Manager Bobby Hammond conveyed to Kurtz or her agent that the club was unable to find a trade for her, but that it could increase her salary by a "few thousand dollars."
Riley targeted Shim in other ways as well. On October 10, 2022, the NWSL publicly announced that the Joint Investigative Team found that Cromwell and Greene engaged in retaliation and attempted retaliation, in violation of NWSL policy, against Pride players whom Cromwell and Greene believed had made or supported earlier misconduct allegations against them, and that Reis violated NWSL policy by not fully cooperating with the retaliation investigation. She was surprised then when the club's HR personnel emailed staff and the players who raised concerns to schedule a meeting for them to discuss the issues collectively. The NWSL engaged Covington & Burling LLP ("Covington") to conduct an independent investigation, and the NWSLPA engaged counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP ("Weil"). Reis may not return to work until she has completed the mandatory training, acknowledged wrongdoing, and demonstrated a sincere commitment to modifying her behavior. 4. Also during that time, in connection with Riley's hiring by the Flash, Plush, Gulati, Flynn, and Levine corresponded by email indicating some or all of them had discussed the need for [an NWSL] policy and training."
According to the USSF Dames Report, Dames told a player that when her son got
After Starr revealed Simon's identity to the club, Wilkins set up a meeting for later that morning with Simon, Starr, and Wilkins's supervisor. This lack of transparency enabled Riley to continue to coach NWSL players for another six years after he was fired from the Thorns.
Starr recalled that the NWSL volunteer chaplain coordinator "didn't know what to do," and had never navigated a similar report of abuse. The NWSLPA also announced that it would conduct its own independent investigation into workplace misconduct within the League. 7. In his interview with the Joint Investigative Team, Clarkson exhibited a lack of candor. After the group returned to the hotel, Harrington came upstairs to two players' hotel room. Farrelly felt coerced into having sexual intercourse with Riley based on the dynamic between them and his control over her soccer career. In describing that meeting, Estes said that "the ultimate corroboration came from Christy Holly." 1, systemic issues that contributed to, and were perpetuated by, those instances of misconduct. Require Certification of the Completion of Mandatory Trainings and Closely Track Compliance
At the second club, the relationship between the staff member and the player allowed rumors to pass between management, staff, and players. Levine told the Joint Investigative Team that from what she could recall, Lines was removed "directly in response" to the survey results. This may require removing some questions that were included in prior player surveys that could be used to identify responding players, including questions about previous teams, pay, and nationality. On September 20, 2020, the Royals placed Head Coach Craig Harrington on a leave of absence, which public reporting stated was related to "inappropriate comments of a sexual nature with staff." The NWSLPA regularly encouraged its members to share relevant information with the Joint Investigative Team. Hammond said that he received only one offer, a lastround pick, which he felt was not adequate compensation given the investment the Courage had made in Kurtz. On September 30, 2021, an article in The Athletic shared accounts by Shim and her former Thorns teammate Sinead Farrelly detailing not only Riley's 2015 misconduct towards Shim, but also his prior sexual misconduct-which the 2015 Thorns Investigation had not uncovered-towards Farrelly. The same player stated that Holly would "attack" another player about her boyfriend, and Holly would tell this player that he felt like he was dating her. The policy, however, then states that [i]f a dating, romantic, or sexual relationship between a player and a staff member or between staff members develops, it must be disclosed to Human Resources" to allow the club "to take steps to protect the interest of [the] organization and the parties involved, which seems to suggest exceptions may be made to the policy. Players were confused about where to report misconduct, and the absence of clear guidance about reporting channels or designated personnel to receive reports compounded the problem. In discussing the player surveys, Flynn also noted he could "not remember any concerns that were ever brought to [his] attention by USSF personnel that specifically related to the quality of coaching or any abusive coaching tactics." Since the Joint Investigative Team began its work, the NWSL has increased efforts to eradicate misconduct, embraced greater accountability, and experienced a cultural shift regarding behaviors that are no longer tolerated.
Golub told the Joint Investigative Team he did not recall speaking with Lines during that time regarding Riley. Riley grew bolder in making sexual advances over time, and Farrelly reported to The Athletic and to the Joint Investigative Team that they had sexual intercourse after Riley went out drinking with the team following a loss at an away game. Those who had known Dames for a long time acknowledged that his "behaviors ha[d] improved," but the review stressed the importance of "consider[ing] the severity of the starting point as context for growth in behavior." 5. Moreover, former League and U.S. Soccer executives also expressed expectations that clubs, not the League, would develop robust HR functions and be prepared to address misconduct, under the League's supervision. With the new details from the joint investigation along with the previous report released in October, it has become apparent that significant policy changes must be made to the league to ensure this behavior is discouraged and, if it does occur, reported and handled properly. If the NWSL receives a complaint or report of alleged misconduct regarding club staff, it should consider requiring that club to report any planned player transactions or staff terminations to the NWSL for the remainder of the current season and the following off-season. Gotham FC general manager Alyse LaHue was fired in July after an investigation connected to the league's antiharassment policy. Players and staff also described coaches creating emotionally toxic workplace environments by subjecting players to volatility or manipulation. By June 26, 2018, Levine had transferred her records of the short NWSL investigation to