The NWSL released the results of an independent investigation into Albertin Montoya on Tuesday, addressing accusations lodged earlier this year that the Bay FC head coach fostered a toxic work environment.
Launched in March, the NWSL investigation concluded that Montoya did not violate the league's anti-harassment, -discrimination, and -bullying policy, while also finding that "there were shortcomings in Coach Montoya's communication style."
"The investigators made a series of recommendations to both Bay FC and the NWSL to facilitate more effective communication and enhance support structures, which the NWSL, Bay FC, and Coach Montoya have taken, and are continuing to take, to address such concerns," read the press release.
"We are grateful the League has identified opportunities for additional communication improvements which we are, and have been, implementing," said Bay FC in a separate statement. "We strive to be a player-centric club and will continue to work hard to make sure we have a supportive environment for our players and staff."
This past offseason, the club added two full-time player care and development staff to both address concerns and institute better systems of communication and support between players and coaching staff.
Additional check-ins between athletes and staff members have increased as a result.
Montoya now has weekly executive coaching sessions, plus regular meetings with the team captains as well as consistent updates from the club's mental performance coach.
"Thank you to the league and everyone involved in this process," Montoya told reporters on Tuesday, saying that he "learned from it."
"The fact that certain individuals felt a certain way and I made them feel uncomfortable has been hard on me because that's the last thing I ever tried to do," Montoya added.
