Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Editor’s Note: The recently unsealed documents from Peter Nowak’s lawsuit against the Union are voluminous. We’ll have more on the latest revelations later.

Philadelphia Union fired Peter Nowak only after the MLS league office specifically ordered it and the MLS Players Union threatened to strike, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday.

The documents, first reported Tuesday by Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com, reveal previously unknown details and claims related to Nowak’s controversial tenure as Union coach, his firing, and his subsequent lawsuit against the club, including:

Nowak physically hit his players as part of hazing rituals he also led while coaching D.C. United. With the Union, he literally spanked rookies, struck players with a sandal, and dip his hand in ice water before spanking. Nowak claimed he had approval from Union management and even had assistant coaches tape the ritual.

Nowak traded a player — apparently former captain Danny Califf — two weeks after he initiated a whistleblower complaint on behalf of Union players about abusive practices toward his teammates.

Nowak mocked players with concussions, pressured them to play through concussions, refused to acknowledge the existence of the medical condition, and called them a “pussy” for not playing after having endured one.

Nowak repeatedly violated league rules involving trialists and home grown players, resulting in league fines, reclamation of Union allocation money, and cuts to future portions of transfer fees related to those players.

In 2011, Nowak allegedly told Shep Messing, a soccer broadcaster and associate of Nowak and Sakiewicz, “I have to get the hell out of Philadelphia. These guys are stupid. They don’t know what they’re doing and they’re broke. They have no money.”

An arbitrator ruled against Nowak in his lawsuit against the Union and ordered him to pay $454,258.89 to the Union for legal costs incurred in the case, according to the documents.

Nowak vs. the whistleblower

Despite the release of the documents, some details are redacted from the files. Notably, this includes what appear to be names and many details related to Union players’ complaint with the MLS Players Union in March 2012 about Nowak.

The documents do show, however, that Nowak met with two Union players about the complaint and directed them — and subsequently the full team — not to go to the players union with such matters.

Nowak subsequently sought out the whistleblower who brought the complaint to the players union. First he directly asked the player in question and then went to players union chief Bob Foose, according to the court documents. (Nowak denied having any phone conversations with Foose.) Foose characterized it as an “extremely unusual conversation” and feared Nowak would retaliate against the player.

Nowak then traded the player, which he said was because of the player’s decline in performance and costing the Union a game.

After the trade, league and players union officials met on May 22, 2012 to discuss Nowak’s retaliation against players.

Only one Union player was traded between March 15, when Union scouting director Diego Gutierrez first learned of players complaints to the Union (which he passed along to Nowak), and May 22:

Former Union captain Danny Califf, on May 17.

The infamous trail run without water

Nowak was suspended after initiating a physical altercation with a Chivas USA player during a game on April 21. After he returned, the Union continued their season-long struggles and lost to winless Toronto FC on May 26.

Court documents show Nowak subsequently canceled scheduled days off, requiring players to cancel travel plans, and made players show up at an outdoor trail outside the YSC Academy.

He then made players run over 10 miles in 80-degree weather and denied them water, according to multiple unnamed players’ testimonies. This included players who had been previously ruled out of practice due to injuries and who, according to a filing by the Union, suffered injury setbacks. At the time, MLS had begun stopping games for water breaks because of high temperatures.

Union trainer Paul Rushing — and possibly then-assistant coach John Hackworth, though the testimony indicates his words to Nowak were not heard by players — argued openly with Nowak, concerned that players would suffer dehydration.

“You know what?” Rushing told Nowak, according to one unnamed player’s testimony. “You’re in charge here, but I refuse to have my hands in this because it isn’t right. So if this is what you want to do, I’m washing my hands of this. I want no part of this. But this isn’t right … [Nowak] — I remember him saying this distinctively — was like … ‘I don’t care. I’m going to make men out of these guys.'”

Rushing subsequently tried to sneak water to the players, but Nowak took the water bottles from him and threw them into the woods.

Nowak testified he denied the water because one player was sick and he didn’t want other players infected, despite there being clear, previously established measures in place for setting aside sick players’ water.

Rushing later brought his concerns to a league official involved in overseeing medical matters around the league, according to the court documents. His account, combined with other claims about Nowak, set off “major alarm bells” with Todd Durbin, Executive Vice President of Competition, Player and Labor Relations, for MLS.

This set off the internal league investigation that led to Nowak’s firing.

Union players were “extremely afraid” of “consequences” or “retaliation” from Nowak if it became known they took part in the league investigation, so the players union asked the league to grant them confidentiality, according to the court documents. This had only been done once before by the league, during a similar investigation into misconduct while Nowak coached D.C. United.

On June 7, Nowak again limited water to players during a practice, according to the Union’s court filing. Nowak denied this.

Nowak’s court filing indicates he was never interviewed by the league as part of the investigation and had no opportunity to dispute the findings or rectify problems before he was fired. Sakiewicz testified that Nowak had corrected all previous issues he had been asked to address, except the hazing.

League orders Nowak’s firing

On June 10, 2012, Durbin told Union chief executive Nick Sakiewicz that Nowak “needs to be fired,” according to the documents, and could not be near Union players. Sakiewicz wanted more time to review the findings of the investigation and talk with league ownership.

The players union took a similar position as Durbin on June 1, saying Nowak “needed to be removed as coach of the team and that it was not appropriate nor was it safe for our members to have him as coach of the team.” This was unprecedented for the players union.

When Sakiewicz did not fire Nowak on Monday, June 11, Durbin emailed Sakiewicz, according to the court documents: “This cannot last until the weekend. You gave me your assurance this would happen wed. [sic]. It was my recommendation it happen this morning.”

Durbin sent Sakiewicz the league’s findings on June 12.

Sakiewicz kept his word and fired Nowak two days later.

“I was disgusted by all of this,” Sakiewicz testified. “I still am.”