78010

The AFL’s Collingwood Football Club has reached an out-of-court settlement with a former employee in legal proceedings in a discrimination lawsuit.

Mark Cleaver, the former Head of First Nations strategy at the club, had claimed he was humiliated by Magpies Chief Executive Craig Kelly who allegedly used slurs and made jokes about Indigenous culture in his presence.

In response, the Club defended the allegations and its staff, saying an external review had investigated Cleaver's claims and that no workplace laws had been breached.

On Monday evening, the parties released a joint, two-line statement confirming the case had been settled at mediation.

It read "Mark Cleaver and the Collingwood Football Club announce that the legal proceedings have been resolved.

"It is requested that Mark's privacy be respected and the parties have agreed not to make any further statements."

No details of the settlement were revealed.

Cleaver filed the lawsuit in July, claiming he had suffered "hurt, humiliation and distress" and "economic loss" after the club terminated his employment in May.

In court documents, Cleaver alleged the club breached several laws, including the discrimination acts around race, disability and equal opportunity.

The allegations against Kelly included that he threw a ball at Cleaver, causing him humiliation and pain because of his multiple sclerosis.

Cleaver also claimed Kelly made disparaging comments about Indigenous culture and a female elder.

When the legal claim was lodged, Collingwood insisted its staff had acted lawfully and said it intended to defend the case.

The club said Mr Cleaver's termination was due to conduct unrelated to his complaint.

Image: Collingwood's training base at Melbourne's Olympic Park Oval.

Related Articles

29th September 2024 - MCG welcomes crowd of more than 100,000 fans for AFL grand final

12th October 2024 - Australian Sports Commission launches course to tackle racism in community sport

20th June 2024 - Fans at AFL, NRL and A-League games fail to report racist incidents

27th May 2024 - Racism claim against AFL’s Hawthorn terminated by Australian Human Rights Commission

31st May 2023 - AFL ends racism investigation into Hawthorn trio

12th April 2023 - AFL starts investigations into further racist abuse of four Indigenous players

11th March 2023 - Commissioner calls for coordinated response from Australian sporting sector to address spectator racism

30th September 2022 - Players Association reveals AFL players unhappy over racism response

9th February 2021 - Eddie McGuire resigns as Collingwood President in wake of racism report

1st February 2021 - Unreleased review reveals ‘systemic racism’ at AFL’s Collingwood FC

23rd October 2020 - Former Collingwood player Héritier Lumumba sues AFL and club over alleged racism

23rd June 2020 - Collingwood club to finally review refers Heritier Lumumba’s racism allegations

7th June 2019 - AFL issues ‘unreserved’ apology over racism faced by Adam Goodes

13th April 2017 - Racist abuse from fans ‘wrecking’ AFL says Adelaide star Eddie Betts

4th August 2015 - AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan says the sport has zero tolerance for racism

9th October 2024 - New valuation of AFL and NRL brands shows Collingwood as Australia’s most valuable property

28th December 2023 - ‘Most disliked’ Collingwood enjoy rising merchandise sales after AFL grand final win

25th May 2023 - Collingwood to withdraw from Super Netball competition at end of 2023 season

21st December 2021 - Collingwood FC confirms new Club President

2nd February 2021 - Revelations at Collingwood FC are ‘tip of the iceberg’ of racial prejudice in Australian sport

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.