Overall, the downplaying of Riley's misconduct by key individuals with first-hand knowledge evinced that the Thorns, the NWSL, and U.S. Soccer did
3. Kurtz said that she found the text to be "weird" and was confused as to whether Riley was trying to invite her to the bar. It's a vicious cycle." Riley has previously denied the allegations against him. Documents Collected and Reviewed
At the same time,
1. Other misconduct, which this Report discusses in detail below, has not received as much, if any, public attention. The same player recalled that Dames would discuss another player's boyfriend frequently in the locker room and would make it known that he hated the boyfriend.
At OL Reign, CEO (and for much of the club's history, the principal owner) Bill Predmore also managed HR. Hammond acknowledged that he did not follow up with Kurtz after the call to share any steps that were being taken or to see if there had been any improvement in Riley's behavior. Shim recalled feeling uncomfortable because she felt that Riley was treating the evening like a date. 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. For example, as reported in The Washington Post, Dames criticized one player's communication skills by screaming at her, "If you can't even talk on the field, what kind of mother are you?" The 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy prohibits harassment, including harassment on the basis of race. Harrington denied each of these reports, but the Joint Investigative Team did not find his denials to be credible when viewed against the accounts of multiple other witnesses. There should be specific trainings tailored to club staff, including coaches, and players. The failure to take intermediary action left players in an unsafe environment for well over a year while the investigation was ongoing. That news followed a report from Meg Linehan of The Athletic on Thursday that Paul Riley, who was fired by the North Carolina Courage, had inappropriate sexual relationships with players and made. The sale was finalized in March 2022.
Sexism and Gender Bias
to discount the impact of his behaviors." He also recalled being told that players were concerned about the amount of training given to non-starters.
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. When asked why she did not inquire further in response to Shim's and Farrelly's 2021 complaints, she responded by focusing on language from Shim's and Farrelly's 2021 complaints in which they asked how the NWSL would respond to Shim's initial or underlying 2015 complaint, which Levine said had already been investigated by outside lawyers and which she did not believe there was a basis for re-opening. Gulati told the Joint Investigative Team that he believed he read the player survey results, but he did not recall being aware of 2014 player comments that indicated Riley was verbally abusive.
Multiple individuals emphasized the critical insight that can be gained by speaking with persons knowledgeable about the candidate and expressed the view that background checks alone are unable to detect every potentially problematic issue. Notable policies that will be established or revised include: a Non-Fraternization Policy that will create clear rules regarding romantic and/or sexual relationships and/or encounters between players and staff, and an Alcohol Policy to establish standards around alcohol-use in social settings where players and club staff are present., The league also promised that it would implement league and club minimum standards and staffing / reporting requirements with an emphasis on having clubs dedicate full-time employees to the Human Resources and General Manager positions, ensuring autonomy of the medical staff, and requiring clubs to designate their own Player Safety Officers to provide in-market support to the NWSL Player Safety Officer., In all, the report has specific allegations against eight NWSL teams, 12 former NWSL coaches or front-office leaders, three former top U.S. Soccer Federation employees including former president Sunil Gulati and three former NWSL commissioners or their equivalent. This mandatory anti-harassment training should be interactive and provide opportunities for participants to ask questions. Those findings will remain confidential and the league will not comment further on individual club personnel matters.. The 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy requires clubs to promptly report all reports of misconduct to the League.
Burke also used racial slurs, made racially insensitive and offensive jokes, and undermined and discouraged activism on issues of race.
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. Shim told Garcia that she did not want Riley to coach anywhere in the NWSL, which is why she had alerted the NWSL commissioner, Plush. 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 . It also states that "[e]xceptions to this policy may be granted by ownership or the Chief Operating Officer if, in their sole discretion, it is determined that the close relationship is not likely to cause actual or perceived conflict or favoritism, which is inconsistent with the NWSL policy. At first, she thought the offers were "nice" because she did not "know what the boundaries [were]." This information suggested that Riley might pose a danger to players, but the Courage did not take adequate steps to learn the findings of the investigation, reflecting a lack of appreciation for the power dynamics between players and coaches, and the Courage employed Riley despite knowing of this allegation. Shim had joined the Thorns during the NWSL's inaugural 2013 season, prior to Riley's hiring. . In a text message she sent about bringing in the expert, Cromwell stated, "We don't want [those players] around this week."
The player recalled that Pauw "knocked on [her] door at night and invited herself in just to check how [her] apartment setup was." However, the club did not share enough information about the reason for Holly's termination, leaving both players and the public uncertain about why he was fired. However, many players were troubled by the way the Dash handled the situation. However, Dames privately complained to Whisler about the need to change his behavior. . Benstiti did not obey this instruction. 3. She also asked him not to speak to one player implicated in the complaint about the complaint until the League had the opportunity to call that player, but Whisler refused to comply, saying that th[e] situation has the potential to destroy team chemistry."
Our players respect what Holly does as a coach and how he treats other players, coaches, and staff." On August 11, 2021, The Washington Post reported that Spirit Head Coach Richie Burke had verbally and emotionally abused players. Even before the Athletic article detailing Riley's misconduct was published, two Courage players had made complaints-one directly to the NWSL and one to the Courage (which was later reported to the NWSL)-that Riley had made inappropriate comments about players' weight and that he had required a player to report her weight to him daily for more than two months. 116, 3. Although Racing Louisville's vetting of Holly was not atypical for clubs at the time, it did not go far enough in assessing his treatment of players. Players described numerous instances of club leaders engaging in sexual misconduct, including making unwanted sexual advances toward players and making inappropriate sexual remarks to players. Simon was afraid to tell anyone of Holly's abuse because she was scared for her physical safety if Holly found out she had reported him. Pauw lived in the same apartment complex as players -- an issue the report flags as a too-common problem around the league -- and allegedly attempted to control their diets and prevent them from weight training for fear they would be too "bulky.". Riley and Holly were not the only club staff members reported to have made unwanted sexual advances toward players. In addition, she agreed that Dames's conduct would violate the SafeSport Code of Conduct, if it had applied. The Joint Investigative Team also reviewed the practices and policies in the NWSL and its member clubs related to identifying, investigating, and addressing such misconduct. The group, including Thorp, went to Riley's apartment, though Thorp left shortly thereafter. Investigators also call for more centralized hiring processes, including background checks with references for all prospective club owners, staff, and volunteers who might interact with players. The report stated that "Dames and Whisler offered credible explanations" for Dames's behavior in one incident. Is that never appropriate?" reliably disseminated to relevant stakeholders. 65, Some witnesses also expressed concern that the experiences of players of color were discounted or not taken seriously. The Joint Investigative Team also conducted a substantial review of emails, text messages, and other relevant documents, including documents collected from the NWSL, the NWSLPA, U.S. Soccer, all 12 clubs, players, and other individuals. A player expressed a similar concern, saying that she felt Holly made "decisions that weren't in the best interest of the team" because of his relationship. . Multiple players described coaches engaging in behavior that was perceived to be physically threatening to players, such as chasing players down to scream at them, screaming in
Club ownership noted that the individual had "cleared" his background check and that they had planned to hire him, but that they ultimately chose not to hire him after the NWSL advised against it. For example, and as discussed in detail above, when Riley was separated from employment with the Thorns and subsequently hired by the Flash, neither the Thorns nor the League informed the Flash of the precise issues or investigative findings against Riley. The NWSL should develop and implement an annual anti-racism and unconscious bias training that, among other things, is designed to prevent the use of racially insensitive or antisemitic language and provides tools for how to recognize and intervene against microaggressions. One player, describing Riley's fixation with players' weight, stated that he was "100% the most controlling person I've ever met. Another player recalled that he deployed a strategy of "breaking down [a player's] confidence, saying she doesn't look fit," and then when he needed her, "building her confidence back up and controlling her in that way." In 2022, it was updated to prohibit discrimination and retaliation more explicitly. Since 2019, some clubs have offered their own anti-harassment trainings, but those trainings have not been approved by the NWSL, and one club's HR staff reported that the NWSL had not been helpful in developing trainings.
There are some interesting suggestions in the report, too, including a call for the NWSL to establish and enforce a policy discouraging the use of nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreements "in circumstances involving alleged or substantiated misconduct under the Anti-Harassment Policy." This team member said she had not experienced a similar situation in a professional environment.
One interviewee reported that some clubs that had HR departments historically [could not] use them because of the single-entity structure [of the NWSL]." Most players enter the League through a draft, and player contracts are not required to be guaranteed. With regards to Dames's treatment of players, one player recalled, "It wasn't like, 'Hey, bad pass.' 123, F.
Players
The assertion of legal privilege over the investigation, and various communication breakdowns, had the effect of enabling Riley to continue coaching in the NWSL for years after the Thorns fired him, leaving Riley's players, who were not provided with any reason to be wary of him, vulnerable to further misconduct.
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Darcizzle Offshore Boyfriend Brian, Articles A