Aussie basketball great loses court case against Sydney Flames after he was suspended as head coach over bullying and misconduct claims

Australian basketball legend Shane Heal has lost the lion’s share of his lawsuit against the Sydney Flames, with a judge ruling that he had been suspended as head coach of the WNBL club over player complaints.

Heal has taken the WNBL club to court, seeking injunctions preventing his dismissal, as well as sanctions, including workers’ rights.

He initiated the lawsuit for breach of labor law after being suspended as the club’s head coach in January last year.

The club said it has launched an investigation into Mr Heal’s conduct after players approached management with complaints of bullying and issues with his behaviour.

The Flames suspended Mr Heal and ordered an independent investigation into the allegations before the case reached the Federal Court last year.

Heal had claimed he was suspended after exercising his workplace rights and that the complaints had been used as a ‘smokescreen’, the court was told.

Delivering his judgment on Friday afternoon, Judge John Halley said he was satisfied that the action against Heal was a result of the complaints made by the players to senior management.

‘Contrary to the case raised by Mr Heal, I accept that the decision to suspend Mr Heal as head coach of the team was taken due to the complaints made about him by the players to the senior management of the Sydney Flames, and not because of his practice. of any perceived rights in the workplace,” Judge Halley said.

In January last year, after a defeat to Perth, the playing group – minus Heal’s daughter Shyla Heal – had dinner together where three players said they were “struggling with or angered by Mr Heal’s behavior towards them”, the court heard.

Captain Keely Froling agreed to call president Victoria Denholm and raise the complaints on behalf of the players, the court heard.

Ms Froling raised a number of complaints to Ms Denholm about Heal, including one of her teammates having a panic attack and another having mental health problems.

Flames chief executive Christopher Pongrass met with Ms Froling “during which she provided examples of a number of instances where Mr Heal had acted in a bullying or belittling manner towards players”, Judge Halley said.

A day later, Mr. Pongrass received a call from a player agent, who managed two Flames players, raising the complaints.

Mr Heal was called to a meeting where he was told about the allegations and that an independent investigation would be carried out.

While the investigation took place, he was dismissed with pay.

The club received the report, prepared by a lawyer, in early February last year and he was asked to prove why his employment should not be terminated, prompting him to initiate legal proceedings.

Heal denied any wrongdoing in a statement made last year.

Heal claimed he was suspended for exercising certain workplace rights, including making claims about the team’s schedule and disagreements over player signings, including their failure to make an offer to American star Jackie Young .

However, Judge Halley said salary cap restrictions prevented the club from signing Ms Young and Mr Heal would not have been ‘genuinely surprised or upset’.

Judge Halley said the club management’s decision to suspend Heal was ‘due to complaints from members of the team about the conduct and behavior of Mr Heal’.

He said he did not accept that the ‘players’ complaints were a ‘smokescreen’ put forward by Sydney Flames to conceal the real reason for his suspension.

He described the complaints as ‘objectively serious’.

‘They were presented to senior management mainly on behalf of the team by the team captain in an hour-long meeting, they involved four players and included claims that players were struggling, one player had had a panic attack and another player was struggling with mental health issues,” Judge Halley said.

Heal also took action under the Fair Work Act, claiming the club failed to provide him with employment details, failed to provide him with pay slips and breached his contract by failing to pay commissions on sponsorship income to lenders he brought to the club. Flames.

The Flames admitted they had not provided him with pay stubs

Judge Halley ruled that the club had breached his contract by failing to pay him his share of sponsorship income, and said Heal was entitled to a commission for bringing two sponsors to the club.

He otherwise ruled in favor of the Sydney Flames and dismissed Mr Heal’s suit.