![]() ![]() Shim’s 2015 reports of Riley’s increasingly aggressive sexual harassment, eventual coercion, exertion of control, and retaliation led to his dismissal from the Thorns that fall, but publicly his contract was simply not renewed and the team wished him well: “the Thorns did not inform the team staff, the players, other NWSL teams, or the public of Riley’s termination for cause.”Ī seven-page internal report, produced in the course of a week, included interviews with Shim and Farrelly but left out many details and presented the situation as a limited instance of inappropriate fraternization. The answers to who knew what, when, appear to be everyone, and early. Meanwhile, some Portlanders not normally thought of in connection to sports fandom-public radio donors-have called for the removal of Golub from the board of Oregon Public Broadcasting. “The Portland Thorns interfered with our access to relevant witnesses and raised specious legal arguments in an attempt to impede our use of relevant documents.”Īt least one local sponsor of the Thorns, Laurelwood Brewing, has publicly addressed the report, releasing a statement on Instagram that the findings "do not reflect" its values and that it will "wait and see what happens with team ownership and management" before making a decision about continuing the sponsorship next season. Within hours of the report’s release, a group of protesters gathered outside of Providence Park chanting “Merritt Paulson protects abusers,” and the Oregonian website’s lead story was an op-ed by sports columnist Bill Oram calling on Paulson to fire Wilkinson and sell both the Timbers and the Thorns, citing Paulson’s “backroom bargaining to keep the allegations against Riley buried.” Yates’s team states that the Thorns caused delays in the investigation: “The Portland Thorns interfered with our access to relevant witnesses and raised specious legal arguments in an attempt to impede our use of relevant documents.” The report notes that the Thorns and Timbers’ president of business Mike Golub (who was singled out in a recent internal review for inappropriate and discriminatory workplace behavior) was not “made available” for an interview. Systemic, yes, but, in addition to Riley, some front-office names associated with the Portland Thorns have featured roles in the report: notably owner Merritt Paulson (who a year ago claimed to “disavow the culture of silence” and pledged to “welcome” and “fully cooperate” with an investigation) and former general manager Gavin Wilkinson (still the Timbers GM, he was temporarily relieved of his Thorns duties following the Athletic article but was reinstated as both teams' president of soccer in January 2022). “Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct-verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct-had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims,” reads the executive summary. About half of the report's pages are footnotes, sources, and appendices including many emails and text messages. The yearlong investigation involved more than 200 interviews and 89,000 documents. Yates and the law firm King & Spalding LLP were asked to conduct an independent investigation into the Riley situation and other alleged abuses in the National Women’s Soccer League. Retained two days after the September 30, 2021, article by Meg Linehan was published in the Athletic, former US Attorney and US Deputy Attorney General Sally Q.
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