Lumumba’s stance ‘vindicated’ by Collingwood report, lawyer says
A scathing report that details systemic racism at Collingwood Football Club vindicates claims made by ex-Magpie Heritier Lumumba, according to Lumumba’s lawyer.
The independent review, titled “Do Better” and authored by Professor Larissa Behrendt and Professor Lindon Coombes, was prompted by complaints made by Lumumba. But he did not agree to be interviewed, so it does not specifically address his claims. The review was commissioned by Collingwood in June last year.
Former Collingwood player Heritier Lumumba.Credit:Pat Scala
Lumumba lodged a claim in the Supreme Court in October last year alleging the club breached its duty of care to him, claiming in court documents that he was subjected to racial abuse or racially offensive conduct.
“[Collingwood] failed to take any or any sufficient steps to provide and maintain a safe working environment, including by protecting the plaintiff from racial abuse or racially-offensive conduct,” the court documents said.
“By reason of the matters set out above, the plaintiff has suffered loss, damage, and injury including trauma, humiliation, distress, and loss of enjoyment,” the claim read.
The court papers are yet to be served on the named defendants, Collingwood and the AFL.
Lumumba’s lawyer, Rhea Dillon, from Phi Finney McDonald, told The Age on Monday that “the report vindicates our client’s claims”.
Lumumba is seeking acknowledgment of the racism, an apology and compensation.
In December, Lumumba took to social media, saying he had been denied access to the report.
“Six months after announcing an internal review on racism and racial discrimination, a report was finally delivered to @CollingwoodFC’s board. Eddie McGuire announced he would be stepping down just 72 hours later,” he wrote.
“As usual, CFC have tried to spin this to avoid associating Eddie’s departure with the findings of the review, by making no mention of it publicly. No doubt their intention is to bury the report in ‘new initiatives’ around ‘equality’ as mentioned by McGuire in his speech.
“CFC is yet to provide me with the report – they ignored a request for it. If they truly believe in transparency, CFC should make the report public. Instead, they’re doing their best to hide it behind McGuire’s ‘lap of honour’ exit from the club’s presidency.
“CFC’s damage control tactics are predictable. They likely include a strategically crafted apology that will attempt to spin its way out of real accountability.
“CFC has constantly avoided acknowledging their toxicity and institutional failures, or how they punished me for speaking out and used their power as an institution to publicly discredit me.”
President Eddie McGuire spoke about the club investigation in June last year.
“We’re going to do this forensically but we’re not looking to prosecute,” McGuire said.
“We want to find what’s gone on. I’ve spoken to some people and I’ve found different things, the nuances that I had no idea [about].
“This is a search for the truth, this is something that’s felt very deeply by everyone at the club and we want to find the truth and that will probably be everyone’s truth.”
The Magpies, including McGuire, will hold a press conference at 3pm on Monday.
Peter Ryan is a sports reporter with The Age covering AFL, horse racing and other sports.