Ten former employees of the Portland Timbers and Thorns said that president of business Mike Golub contributed to a "toxic" work environment and created an "atmosphere of disrespect and intimidation toward women and working mothers employed at the club over a span of 11 years," according to Ryan Clarke of The Oregonian.
Per that report, women who left those organizations reported "multiple instances of inappropriate comments or jokes in office settings, unwanted physical contact, and hostile behavior they say goes beyond the typically demanding atmosphere of working in sports."
Blair Neelands, who previously worked with the organization's Stand Together initiative, told Clarke that Golub "yells and frequently gets angry in meetings, throws soccer balls or other objects at employees to try to catch them off guard, quizzes subordinates on unrelated matters in the middle of presentations, eats bites of people's food and takes sips from their drinks, and engages in boundary-crossing horseplay in office settings," which other former employees corroborated.