According to that document, Wilkinson told Lines and then-Flash President Alex Sahlen-who is also the daughter of former Flash owner Joe Sahlen and the wife of Lines-that an investigation into Riley had occurred based on "only one incident with a disgruntled player," but that no wrongdoing was found. It can be argued that Alyse LaHue, general manager of the soccer team formerly known as Sky Blue FC, was herself the rebrand that became official this . The same player noted that when players considered raising concerns, they wondered, "Are we going to ruin something? One player reported that former OL Reign Head Coach Farid Benstiti announced to players, "If I see you eat snacks, I will kill you." In one instance, the report dismissed concerns about Dames's racist comments as "not supported by recent examples," finding that "the three examples of alleged inappropriate remarks, if they were made, were insensitive and perhaps thoughtless, but not made with any apparent intent." The NWSLPA encouraged and facilitated participation by a significant number of players, past and present. The same player said that at another club, she saw players go to dinner with the coach all the time. A former player recalled that Dames would hang out with some players more often than others." Gotham FC cooperated in all respects with the NWSL investigation. I'm going to watch what you eat," and the other recalled
That's the problem with this league. While the NWSL and clubs have worked to strengthen their HR resources, many players continue to gravitate towards the NWSLPA as the safest reporting mechanism: even veteran players on the USWNT told the Joint Investigative Team that they would default to bringing their concerns through the NWSLPA. 18 episodes. Novo recalled that Holly denied a romantic relationship with Pearce Rampone. She said she decided to hold the report open while U.S. Soccer and the NWSL negotiated the relationship that U.S. Soccer would have with the League going forward. 3. Whisler shared his perspective with the Joint Investigative Team that "if you're a coach and you know a player doesn't want to be in your environment, has other players upset because she turned something in to the League there's a chemistry issue that I think has to be thought through from a team health perspective." The Report concludes with systemic recommendations for the NWSL and its member clubs. During her interview-which was two hours long (more than twice as long as any other interview conducted at the time)Shim recounted the instances she had described in her complaint. A spokesperson for Gotham FC provided Equalizer with the following statement regarding the handling of the complaint made against LaHue: NJ/NY Gotham FC ownership acted immediately upon learning of a confidential player complaint against former General Manager Alyse LaHue. The Joint Investigative Team was in the process of scheduling an interview with Holly when the USSF Report was released. 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. No information about the investigation or Riley's termination was made public until the release of the Athletic article on September 30, 2021. Plush stated that he never told Malik that Riley was "cleared" or in "good standing." Levine's explanation for her response to these emails was that she was focused on language in the emails regarding how the NWSL would respond to Shim's initial 2015 complaint-despite indicia in the emails that Shim and Farrelly were dissatisfied with the NWSL's response to Shim's 2015 complaint and despite Farrelly having provided additional pertinent information in her email. The Joint Investigative Team sent emails to all current and former players for whom the NWSL maintained an active email address, encouraging players to share any information about harassment, abuse, bullying, discrimination, or any other misconduct they experienced or observed during their time playing in the NWSL.
Paulson noted that Wahlke kept coming back to the determination of no unlawful harassment. Trainings should also explain that even if there are other reasons for taking an adverse action against a player or staff member, if retaliation is a motivating factor for taking an adverse action, the adverse action is retaliatory and a violation of the Anti-Harassment Policy. In the letter, players demanded that the NWSL adopt policies to protect players, including by requiring clear reporting channels for complaints as well as procedures for thorough and impartial investigations. Gulati also stated that U.S. Soccer relied on the League and the clubs to develop their own policies regarding misconduct, but he did not recall ever conveying to the clubs that they were responsible for setting up these policies.
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
And Levine, in spite of having been kept apprised of the Thorns's investigation in 2015 and having read the investigative report, did not take Shim's and Farrelly's 2021 complaints to the NWSL regarding Riley seriously; in fact, Levine drafted responses on which Baird-who had no prior familiarity with the 2015 investigation-relied to respond to Shim and Farrelly and essentially decline to inquire into Riley further. Lisa Baird did not investigate the 2021 complaints against Riley, which contained information that should have led Baird to inquire further. Pauw acknowledged that at the end of the season, a player had raised concerns to Pauw that Pauw's mistreatment had caused a teammate's eating disorder, but Pauw denied any role and stated that the reporting player should have "tak[en] responsibility as an adult by looking out for her teammate sooner. While the investigator documented the investigative steps that were taken, at the request of Levine, she did not prepare a summary of her findings and conclusions in either of these investigations, instead communicating informally with Levine.
Sky Blue and NJ/NY Gotham
Simon said that during her first year playing at Sky Blue, nothing "out of the ordinary" happened. Second, the Joint Investigative Team found no support for the Thorns's independent assertion that the 2015 investigation did not reveal any "unlawful harassment by Riley, an assertion which seemed to have emerged just after the 2015 Thorns Investigation. 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. This appears to be in part due to uncertainty surrounding which entity or entities bore responsibility for developing policies of this nature. The Joint Investigative Team asked Harrington for his cell phone records, with call and text details, for the month in question. Despite receiving players' reports of verbal and emotional abuse by Dames, she took no action to suspend Dames or otherwise prevent further misconduct during the investigation. Wilkinson told the Joint Investigative Team he learned of at least one occasion in mid-2015 in which Riley had been drinking socially with players. On the international stage, the United States has been a powerhouse of women's soccer. In text messages, LaHue also expressed an emotional reliance on the player and repeatedly questioned the player's interactions with another individual, stating in one message, [Y]ou knew I'd be mad about you talking to [her] so long. These behaviors undisputedly occurred and are still occurring." D.
The NWSLPA also announced that it would conduct its own independent investigation into workplace misconduct within the League. 3. Players also stated that Pauw commented on players' legs as being "bulky" and prohibited players from lifting weights based on her view that it would make them bulkier when she wanted players to be lean.
While Richie Burke was head coach of the Spirit, club management created an environment where players felt it was futile to raise concerns about Burke to anyone at the club.
Interview with Alyse LaHue, General Manager at Sky Blue FC The new report claimed it studied all reports of inappropriate conduct toward players in the league since its launch in 2012, reviewing over 200,000 documents and conducting over 200 interviews. As Equalizer has reported, the highly-anticipated report contained detailed findings of an investigation into numerous allegations of misconduct across the league. But the story had been percolating since June 28, when I reported via Twitter that Alyse LaHue was away from the team. Two other players recalled that Benstiti mentioned Horan by name. 1. Burke told the Joint Investigative Team that he was a demanding" coach and acknowledged that he could be "profane" at times, but he adamantly denied that his behavior was abusive toward players. 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. It didn't matter that the girls had other jobs-this team was their life." 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." He also commented on players' weight and made verbally caustic remarks towards and about players; some players credibly reported that he was verbally abusive, including that he called players idiots, motherfuckers, and dumb, stupid, slow, idiotic, retarded, and that he said that they "have no balls and will never be better than the average 16 year old boy." The March Investigation focused on concerns that Cromwell inappropriately showed favoritism towards certain players, communicated with players in an unprofessional manner, and inappropriately commented on players' physical appearances, and that Greene inappropriately showed favoritism towards certain players. 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." 37, harshly criticized Kurtz's weight. The 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement introduced free agency for a subset of players that meet certain service requirements. Instead, both Temares and Smoot recalled only that Novo had raised concerns regarding Holly's potential relationship with Pearce Rampone. That initial policy was created with a primary focus of maintaining a safe environment, free of harassment. U.S. Soccer failed to address allegations against Riley and Dames as early as 2014, when it received comments in NWSL player surveys stating that Riley and Dames were verbally and emotionally abusive.