On October 1, 2021, the day after The Athletic reported Riley's misconduct, the NWSL announced that all scheduled matches for that weekend would be rescheduled. However, the allegations once again were not responded to appropriately by the NWSL, including by Levine, who had read Shim's 2015 allegations against Riley as well as the 2015 investigative report. Duffy was also aware there was an ongoing investigation at the Red Stars, but the Joint Investigative Team found no evidence the NWSL requested updates regarding the investigation or requested the final investigative report, and Levine acknowledged that she interpreted the lack of update from Wahlke as a lack of material negative findings concerning Dames. When he was not yelling, players felt that Dames was emotionally manipulative" and would use information he knew about them against them. Other players also pointed to the developments of the past two years, and in particular, the implementation of the NWSL AntiHarassment Policy, as positive signs of a cultural change. 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. . 1. Trauma-Informed, Survivor-Centered Approach
Paulson told the Joint Investigative Team that Garcia and an attorney presented the report to Thorns leadership. The NWSLPA encouraged and facilitated participation by a significant number of players, past and present. A report organized by the league and its players union added yet more stinging information about how the league was mismanaged and how it mistreated its players. The only thing I can say for sure is that the issue stems from a complaint filed with the league under its anti-harassment policy. A former player told the Joint Investigative Team she believed the investigation was "inconclusive because no action was taken." In multiple investigations by the NWSL, no written report, summary, or other record of findings was prepared, and findings were not broadly shared. Multiple players and club staff reported that in 2017, while Holly was head coach of Sky Blue, he began dating Pearce Rampone. Multiple players emphasized that coaches who weight-shamed players often were concerned with appearance, irrespective of players' on-field performance. The League should require that any non-disclosure or non-disparagement provisions allow the League and clubs to share information consistent with disclosure requirements set forth in the AntiHarassment Policy and any other requirements that may be implemented to promote transparency and player safety. This behavior contrasted with other periods during which he would ignore Shim. Dames's explanation relied on his communications with another staff member, but the investigator did not attempt to speak to this staff member or otherwise corroborate Dames's explanation. Garcia, who conducted all of the interviews and collected and reviewed documents and text messages from individuals she interviewed, is not a lawyer and lacked experience in conducting sensitive investigations. Clarkson then demanded hotel security footage (which investigators said he did not get) and reprimanded the team for drinking before a game, although player maintain they did not. The NWSL should conduct an assessment of its HR and Legal departments to determine whether they are sufficiently staffed to conduct thorough and prompt investigations of allegations of misconduct.
E. Reports of Misconduct in 2020 and 2021
None of the club policies referenced the 2021 Anti-Harassment Policy provision requiring supervisors, managers, coaches, and all general managers to report all potential violations of the policy to the NWSL HR Manager.
Another player said she felt that Whisler had "loyalty" to Dames and did not hear" players' concerns. While some players expressed doubt that the SafeSport trainings were helpful, one player recalled that the SafeSport training made her realize she was experiencing sexual harassment; however, the player also noted that the training did not provide any NWSL-specific resources to help players experiencing misconduct.
Even when these meetings were strictly professional, players expressed discomfort with meeting coaches in their hotel rooms. Instead, it appears that, in the face of threatened litigation by Riley, and on the advice of counsel, the Thorns sought to limit their potential liability to their former coach. For instance, when the Flash were vetting Riley, Wilkinson told the Flash that Riley was a good coach if not for the reason he had been terminated. The club fired Harrington on November 9, 2020.
Players credibly reported to the Joint Investigative Team that Dames was "emotionally manipulative" and would use information about their personal lives against them. 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. At the time, Levine told U.S. Soccer and NWSL leadership that she would send letters to Riley and to Joe Sahlen warning that coaches must remain professional and reminding Sahlen to report any inappropriate conduct by staff to the NWSL. After the meeting, one of the players said she felt like things were getting better. F.
A majority of the players who participated in the investigation raised the concern that "Dames would get close to players, learn personal information about them, and then use the information he gained . Players reported the coaching staff physically turned their backs on the player while she was experiencing a panic attack and did not follow up with this player afterward to ask how she was doing. 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. As another example of a coach targeting a player's personal attributes, according to a staff member, Holly criticized a player by wondering aloud why he had "wasted a draft pick" on her after a stress test revealed she had a medical condition. Multiple players reported concerns about staff members having frequent social interactions with players and controlling players' social lives. On September 16, 2015, Shim reported Riley's conduct to the Thorns and to the NWSL. The HR employee told the Joint Investigative Team that Levine conveyed that the matter was under control, had been investigated, and that Riley had been "cleared." 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." b) Failures of Background Checks
While the League itself cannot dictate changes to settings outside its purview, such as youth soccer or other leagues, it can implement reforms to the policies and practices within its control, which will in turn allow the League to serve as a standard-bearer and blueprint for other institutions. 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." Until 2017, the NWSL front office had five or fewer full-time staff members, and it did not have a dedicated HR staff member for players, who are NWSL employees, until June 2019. As a result, the Joint Investigative Team was not able to fully question LaHue about her interactions with the player. Witnesses also reported that the coach attempted to get another player to dance with him and told her he did not care about her sexuality. The U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT") has consistently ranked in the top of FIFA's rankings and has never finished below third place in the Women's World Cup. The individual incidents and recurrent practices detailed in this Report reflect the experiences of players, not only in isolated moments but also more broadly, as women playing soccer in a league historically owned and run by men. The agreement also provided that Racing Louisville would take over the future payment obligations of Holly's apartment lease if Holly vacated the apartment. 18 episodes. After Holly learned that a different starting player had complained about his behavior to club leadership, he demoted her to training with reserve players. According to Temares's and Smoot's accounts, neither had the information necessary to share that others in Sky Blue leadership were aware of complaints that Holly screamed at and verbally abused players. At the time of LaHues firing, limited information was provided to the public. She told Clarkson during a water break shortly after entering that she had to come off the field due to her injury. Furthermore, Thorns owner and then-CEO Merritt Paulson and then-Thorns General Manager Gavin Wilkinson were familiar with the 2015 allegations and findings against Riley, but they were not transparent with the Flash and the Courage when those clubs were vetting Riley. Though the club did not provide a reason for Benstiti's resignation at the time, The Washington Post reported later that year that Benstiti had made inappropriate comments to players regarding their fitness and nutrition." In this meeting, she recounted that Riley sent her text messages that made her uncomfortable and refused to trade her from the Courage despite her request for a trade. He shut the door and stood between Shim and the door, and she saw he was wearing only his underwear. Players who preferred to remain anonymous were invited to contact the Joint Investigative Team anonymously by calling or emailing a hotline maintained by Covington. In the wake of that public disclosure, Spirit CEO and managing partner Steve Baldwin resigned, but players called for him to sell his share of the team to minority owner Michele Kang. Though the club did not announce a reason for his termination, sources told The Salt Lake Tribune that Harrington "was placed on leave after players complained he was being 'verbally abusive."" The Joint Investigative Team also did not find any evidence that Levine provided information about Riley in response to the Courage's due diligence requests for information, or that she shared information about the 2015 investigation with the Courage. A player for another club recalled that she had to take a break from the team to be with family due to anxiety, and when she returned, both her coach and the general manager informed her she would have to find her own housing because she had "made the choice" to go home temporarily due to mental health reasons. 1. The Joint Investigative Team also reviewed emails, text messages, and other documents, including materials that were not reviewed during the 2015 Thorns Investigation. that he had created a "sexualized team environment" at a Chicago youth club that "crossed the line to sexual relationships in multiple cases, though those relationships may . She did not recall any concerns about Williams's treatment of players being raised at the August 2021 meeting, instead recalling that players shared concerns about the level of training and the team's poor performance.
Some players expressed that they sometimes let these microaggressions go because they felt that speaking out about their experiences would make others uncomfortable or because they felt they would not be believed. There were also multiple process failures during the USSF Dames Investigation, which left notable gaps in its fact-finding. Despite the 2014 and 2018 complaints and a formal investigation in which players reported a wide range of concerns corroborating Press's account, the Red Stars, the NWSL, and U.S. Soccer failed to address Dames's conduct. The close timing between the March Investigation and the proposed player transactions creates a reasonable inference that the decisions were motivated in part by retaliation. According to the report: "While the NWSL investigation [of the 2021 incident with Gorden] was ongoing, Dash Head Coach James Clarkson -- during a team meeting prior to completion of the investigation -- wrote phone numbers for stadium security on a board and asked players to call and apologize for their conduct."