Australian basketball legend Shane Heal lost most of his lawsuit against the Sydney Flames, with a judge ruling he was suspended as head coach of the WNBL club due to complaints made by players.
Heal sued the WNBL club in the Federal Court, seeking orders preventing his dismissal, as well as sanctions including employee rights.
He filed the lawsuit, alleging violations of labor law, after he was suspended from his position as the club’s coach in January of last year.
The club said it launched an investigation into Heal’s conduct after players approached management raising complaints of harassment and issues with his behaviour.
The Flames suspended Heal and commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations before the matter reached the Federal Court last year.
Heal appears outside court after claiming there were labor law breaches when WNBL team Sydney Flames removed him as coach.
Heal was a highly successful player, enjoying stints in the Australian NBL and the NBA in the United States, as well as playing for the Australian Boomers.
Sydney Flames players had made complaints about Heal’s behavior and conduct which led to him being dropped by the WNBL club.
Heal had claimed he was suspended after exercising his employment rights and that the complaints were used as a “smokescreen”, the court was told.
Handing down his sentence on Friday afternoon, Judge John Halley said he was satisfied that the action taken against Heal was due to complaints made by players to senior management.
“Contrary to the case presented by Mr Heal, I accept that the decision to suspend Mr Heal as head coach of the team was made because of complaints that players had made to Sydney Flames senior management about him, not because of of any alleged labor rights,” Judge Halley said.
In January last year, after a loss to Perth, the group of players, minus Heal’s daughter Shyla Heal, had dinner together during which three players expressed that they were “struggling or upset about Mr. Heal’s conduct towards them.” the court heard.
Sydney Flames captain Keely Froling raised the players’ complaints on their behalf to club president Victoria Denholm.
Captain Keely Froling agreed to call president Victoria Denholm and lodge complaints on behalf of the players, the court heard.
Froling expressed a number of complaints to Denholm about Heal, including that one of his teammates had a panic attack and another suffered mental health problems.
Flames chief executive Christopher Pongrass met with Ms Froling “in which she gave examples of a number of cases in which Mr Heal had acted towards players in an intimidating or belittling manner”, Judge Halley said.
A day later, Pongrass received a call from a player agent, who managed two Flames players, raising the complaints.
Mr Heal was summoned to a meeting where he was told about the allegations and that an independent investigation would be carried out.
He was suspended and paid while the investigation was underway.
Heal was sacked with pay by the Sydney Flames while they investigated player complaints against the former head coach.
Heal, pictured right guarding Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, claimed he was suspended for exercising certain rights in the workplace.
The club received the report, prepared by a lawyer, at the beginning of February last year, and was asked to justify why it should not be terminated from its contract, which led it 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 complaints about the team’s schedule and disagreements over player signings, including failing to make an offer to American star Jackie Young.
However, Judge Halley said the club could not sign Ms Young due to salary cap restrictions and that 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 made by members of the team about Mr Heal’s behavior and conduct”.
He said he did not accept that the ‘players’ complaints were a ‘smokescreen’ put forward by the Sydney Flames to disguise the true reason for their suspension.
Heal claimed player complaints were a ‘smokescreen’ to cover up labor infractions
Heal’s daughter Shyla also played for the Sydney Flames, but has since left the club to join AZS UMCS Lublin of the Polish Basket Liga Kobiet for the 2023-24 season.
He called the complaints “objectively serious.”
“They were presented mainly by the team captain in an hour-long meeting with senior management on behalf of the team, concerned four players and included claims that the players were having difficulties, 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, alleging that the club had failed to provide him with employment records, failed to provide him with payslips and had breached his contract by failing to pay commissions on sponsorship income to the financial sponsors he brought in. to the Flames.
The Flames admitted to not providing him payrolls
Judge Halley ruled that the club had breached its contract by failing to pay him his share of sponsorship income, saying 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 claim.