A former Vancouver Whitecaps player and whistleblower says an independent investigation into the club's response to allegations of misconduct by former women's coaches Bob Birarda and Hubert Busby Jr. was not thorough and lacked independence.
The report, prepared for Major League Soccer by lawyers Janice Rubin and Melody Jahanzadeh of Rubin Thomlinson LLP, said the club's response was serious and "appropriate."
It also noted that while the club acted "expeditiously" in hiring an experienced workplace investigator, there were issues with the investigation itself.
The report also said the investigations were "superficial and lacking in depth."
It concludes some of the investigator's findings "seemed overly generous" to Birarda and Busby, despite the evidence about their misconduct towards players.
Ciara McCormack, the former Whitecaps player who first spoke out about alleged abusive behaviour on the part of Birarda, said the 18-page report "seemed more just like a very expensive PR piece."
MLS hired the law firm in November to review how the Whitecaps dealt with sexual misconduct allegations against Birarda in 2008 and Busby in 2011.
McCormack said she and a group of former players did not take part in the investigation, after their lawyer asked the law firm if there was going to be solicitor-client privilege for MLS, and did not get a response.
"Obviously our lawyer wrote back saying, 'Well, we're not participating because it's obviously not...
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