The Joint Investigative Team found strong evidence to corroborate players' concerns about Whisler. These examples are illustrative and non-exhaustive; the policy makes clear that harassment can also include physical, visual, and written conduct, such as circulating or posting written materials that show hostility toward an individual because of their protected status, including derogatory cartoons, drawings, websites, emails, text messages, gifs, or memes. The player said she did not report Burke's abusive behavior to Baldwin because she "figured he'd go to [Burke] and [she would] get waived during the season." Novo explained that before this happened, players approached him and requested a meeting to share concerns about Holly. Background checks and reputational vetting of player-facing club employees were not mandatory for much of the NWSLs existence, the report says. One player stated that, "Dishonesty and manipulation from your coach creates a toxic environment." A technicality but a distinction. Paulson told the Joint Investigative Team that prior to sending this message, he had told Malik over the phone that the Thorns had fired Riley based on Shim's complaint. The League's policy should ensure that player privacy is not used as a pretextual basis to justify agreements that undermine player safety and fail to protect the confidentiality of players who are impacted by misconduct. OL Reign's July 2021 announcement that former OL Reign Head Coach Farid Benstiti had resigned from the club made no mention of his disparaging comments. In multiple instances, Clarkson failed to understand how his conduct impacted players. The Committee should engage regularly with the Board of Governors and the Commissioner regarding DEI efforts and should be sufficiently resourced to implement meaningful DEI initiatives. The complainant stated that Riley made comments about a relationship between two other teammates, stating that one of the players was "not in fact gay," and that the other was a "predator." The NWSL should provide mandatory and comprehensive annual anti-bullying trainings to address non-abusive approaches to coaching and to empower players to recognize and report misconduct. . Levine forwarded this email to Plush in September 2015. One of the players recalled that Benstiti said, I don't care if you go to the newspapers no more fast food. 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. In 2019, several media outlets, including Yahoo! However, witnesses provided conflicting accounts of U.S. Soccer's actual role in managing the League. D. For example, Thorns owner Merritt Paulson said the Thorns shared everything with the League" and believed the League would further investigate and suspend former Head Coach Paul Riley from working in the League following the 2015 allegations against him. On the Monday night before the game, four Dash players had dinner at a Pumas player's apartment and returned to their hotel around midnight. Players expressed concerns that Whisler was loyal to Dames and justified Dames's behavior even when players brought concerns directly to Whisler. 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. The previous investigation into misconduct allegations was conducted by outside counsel for the Pride in March 2022 (the March Investigation). Adding to this controversy, in July 2011, the WPS players' union filed a grievance that accused Borislow of bullying and threatening players, and creating a "hostile, oppressive and intimidating work environment." 1. Flynn did not specifically recall providing the details noted by Johnson; rather, he only recalled telling Johnson to speak to individuals at the Thorns and to other club owners prior to making a decision regarding Riley because others might know the results of the 2015 Thorns Investigation. Provide Mandatory Annual Anti-Harassment Training Craig Harrington, the former Utah Royal F.C. Notably, investigators for the NWSL and NWSLPA also cite U.S. Soccer as an entity that delayed the investigation. 8. Inattentiveness, neglect, and concealment allow misconduct to fester. When the NWSL kicked off its fourth season in 2016, it became the first professional women's league in the United States to play more than three seasons. The statement said LaHue was first contacted by this investigation in August, and did not get an interview until only after she made several requests for one. In January 2020, OL Reign hired Benstiti as their head coach, despite the availability of public reporting by multiple media sources that Benstiti harshly criticized Lindsey Horan's weight when he was her coach at the French club Paris Saint-Germain ("PSG") and told her she could not play until she lost weight. He frequently texted Shim, even though she did not always reply, sometimes asking her to come to his apartment or turning the conversation to her sexual orientation. 80, d) Concerns of Retaliation at the Kansas City Current In the 2015 survey, two players for the Red Stars stated that Dames was "abusive." NWSL staff responsible for reviewing player survey results were not trained on how to handle player survey responses suggesting misconduct against players. 3. Some clubs, including Sky Blue, the Current, the Courage, the Spirit, and the Red Stars, had staff who were nominally in charge of HR overall, but who in practice focused only on handling payroll and other logistics issues. Former U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn stated, in a written statement, [T]he USSF's role as manager' (a misnomer to be sure) of the NWSL was really quite limited. 5. . The NWSL should enforce appropriate discipline against NWSL and club staff and players who do not timely For instance, one player recalled Holly telling her in the weight room that he wanted to "grab her ass" when he saw her squat. The same player noted that when players considered raising concerns, they wondered, "Are we going to ruin something? Investigative Process . Another player who participated in the USSF Dames Investigation told the investigator that Dames once interfered with her plans to visit her boyfriend on an away trip. 23, Thorns staff worked and players played games. On June 28, 2021, a player reported Benstiti's comments to Predmore, who suspended Benstiti from interacting with players the next day. Farrelly recalled feeling guilty after the interview that she had told her partner about the kissing incident. If not, you can sign up below. Similarly, the sex occurred only when Farrelly and Riley had come together for soccer-related activities, such as after Riley invited Farrelly to dinner to discuss her 2012 soccer contract. Williams was moved to a front office role at the end of that season. I think most people that get an MBA then try to go on and get a nice . The League should consider requiring that clubs certify that they have revised their anti-harassment policies to meet the baseline requirements of the League's Anti-Harassment Policy and that they have disseminated their policies and the League's policy to all staff and players. Cromwell's and Greene's conduct fostered a fear of retaliation among certain players and staff at the Pride. After the 2015 Thorns Investigation commenced, Plush followed up with Shim by email, notifying her that the League was monitoring the investigation and stating, [If] there is any additional information that you wish to provide me, separate from what you have discussed with Portland's human resources manager, or if you have concerns about the investigation, please feel free to reach out to me directly." The Management Agreement executed between the NWSL and U.S. Soccer on December 12, 2012, established U.S. Soccer as the manager of the NWSL. Paulson also said he had heard that Shim did not want Riley's termination made public, though there is no evidence that Garcia or anyone else on the Thorns asked Shim for her preference, and Shim told the Joint Investigative Team that she did not recall making any such statement. A. When interviewed by the Joint Investigative Team, Burke admitted making these comments but did not acknowledge their offensiveness. The investigative teams evidence included inappropriate and suggestive text messages along with accounts of unwanted attention, even following pushback from the player. Trainings should include how to conduct an effective, traumainformed interview of an individual making a complaint, how to support that individual and not make comments that deter further reporting, how to document that interview, and how to elevate the issue to the NWSL. The announcement did not specify that the "cause" was sexual misconduct. Due in part to the perceived close relationship between Burke and club ownership and management, players did not feel comfortable expressing concerns about Burke. Numerous individuals relayed that as a result, Cromwell and Greene stopped speaking to players who they believed had participated in the March Investigation and who did not show contrition in the aftermath. The statement that no unlawful harassment" had occurred proved significant going forward, as it was repeated a number of times in the following years as a summary of the investigation's conclusions. The conclusion of the report similarly minimized players' concerns in favor of Dames's and Whisler's self-serving explanations. On another club, a staff member observed that when new players joined the team, the head coach would comment on their sexual orientation. Players reported to the Joint Investigative Team multiple instances in which club staff, coaches, or club leadership retaliated against players for reporting misconduct or for participating in an investigation into misconduct. After the meeting, the team captains followed up with Clarkson and reportedly told him that his conduct had scared players. In another example, one player reported that after a player lodg[ed] a complaint with the PA, Dames retaliated against the team by denying players their family time. According to the report summary, this concern "was not raised by any other player and was credibly denied by Dames and Whisler." 47, The stated purpose of the USSF Dames Investigation was "to understand the experience of the players and provide U.S. Soccer legal advice with respect to whether the alleged misconduct by Dames, to the extent that it occurred, is acceptable from the head coach of a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team from the perspective of U.S. He said he shared with Johnson that Kurtz mentioned Riley calling her chubby, and understood that Johnson would talk to Riley about his choice of words. Emails reflect that Messing raised concerns that a club was planning to hire a technical staff member who, based on Messing's understanding, was one of the most verbally abusive youth coaches around." Club statement. Players reported concerns about staff members drinking alcohol excessively with players. Allowing Riley to continue coaching in the NWSL endangered NWSL players. According to several interviewees, the Dash players had not been drinking alcohol. Several Dash players expressed concerns with Clarkson serving as both coach and general manager, noting that players "[could not] talk to our general manager because he's our coach." The day after the player spoke to the NWSL about her complaint, Dames texted Whisler that he was planning on waiving her. 3. In those moments, she said she "just wanted to yell, 'Stop, they're not okay." Paulson said that Wahlke had spoken with Levine and that Wahlke had some knowledge about the 2015 complaint and findings, including that the investigation found no unlawful harassment. Although the sex did not continue in Portland, Riley continued to fixate on Farrelly, and she continued to feel that he could put her in a position in which she could not refuse him A staff member at the club said that Baldwin "[got] protective and [dug] his claws in about people. Hendrix, who knew about the abuse, also stated she and Simon did not report to the club's HR, because they did not realize that's the person you would talk to about sexual abuse," and they did not know the HR employee well enough to feel comfortable talking to her about the abuse. 100 In June 2021, Benstiti gave a team speech in which he criticized players' diets, despite being told not to do so, in a manner that multiple players found inappropriate. The NWSL should update the 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy to explicitly address microaggressions and racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and other derogatory language. Given the pervasive fear of retaliation in the NWSL, the absence of an anti-retaliation provision is particularly problematic. Regarding Gothams announcement of LaHues termination, the report states that although the club did specify that she had violated League policy, it did not specify that she violated the Leagues prohibition of harassment. Some players explained that their own experience playing for tough or abusive coaches in youth leagues or in college colored their ability to accurately determine whether NWSL coaches' conduct constituted emotional misconduct.
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