By Lesley Ryder
The Attorneys General have ordered the NWSL to create a $5 million settlement fund in a historic settlement of an investigation into the league’s role in several abuse scandals that began unraveling in 2021.
A joint investigation from the Attorneys General of NY, IL and DC launched following the Sally Yates investigation report, and the Joint Investigation of the NWSL and NWSLPA report in 2022. The latest investigation found the NWSL in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the NY, IL, and DC Human Rights Acts.
The settlement will mark the first financial penalty for NWSL following the scandals that brought the league to a halt in October of 2021. “Following the 2022 reports, the league has made critical improvements, largely due to the players fierce advocacy, but importantly, the victims have never been compensated for the abuse they endured on the league's watch until today.” DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a joint press conference Wednesday morning.
NWSLPA President Tori Huster praised players’ unity and bravery for making today’s settlement possible. “It’s a testament to the players courage and unnecessary step toward accountability. If the NWSL is safer today, it is because players fought to make it that way. But true accountability means ensuring this never happens again. I want to be clear, this outcome was possible because players fought for it.”
Burke: “We must also recognize the broader impact of this investigation on the culture of sport from which all this arose, I still believe in the power of sports to change the world. Now more than ever, sports are possibly the one thing that can still bring people together across political difference, gender, geography or any other artificial lines meant to divide us.”
Tori Huster: