Shane Heal: Tesla boss, legal investigator, entwined in Sydney Flames defamation case

An unreachable legal investigator and the Australian boss of Tesla are entwined in the extraordinary defamation case of basketball legend Shane Heal against his former club, the Sydney Flames.

Shane Heal pictured leaving the Federal court in Sydney in July, 2023. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE /Gaye Gerard

AN unreachable legal investigator and the Australian boss of Tesla are entwined in the extraordinary defamation case of basketball legend Shane Heal against his former club, the Sydney Flames.

Heal was sacked by the Flames in February 2023, after the club conducted an investigation into claims of bullying by the coach against three players.

The 53-year-old former Olympian has now launched defamation proceedings against the Flames and their owners Hoops Capital, whose majority share owner is Robyn Denholm, who in 2018 succeeded Elon Musk as chair of Tesla and has an estimated worth of more than $500 million.

The first mention of the case was heard in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, when documents were lodged finally revealing details of the alleged bullying, which Heal denies.

Three Flames players allege Shane Heal verbally abused them, or criticised them in front of teammates, while he was coach. Picture: Getty Images

According to the court documents, three players; Kiera Rowe, Hannah Sjerven and Tiana Mangakahia, made allegations that Heal verbally abused them, or criticised them in front of teammates.

The basis for Heal’s defamation proceedings will focus on two factors; that the three complainants made their allegations hours after Heal himself had filed a complaint to his boss, Paul Smith, about Flames president Victoria Denholm – Robyn’s daughter – and that Heal claims a statement released by the Flames on Heal’s departure was so ambiguous it left open the possibility for readers to infer that he may have been accused of inappropriate physical or sexual abuse when none had been alleged.

Heal’s claim is that the episode renders him unlikely to ever work as a basketball coach again, and seeks commensurate compensation.

The Denholms and Flames are represented by different legal firms in this case, but defending the claims in unison.

Robyn Denholm, the Australian chair of Tesla and now majority of share owner of Hoops Capital, who owns the Sydney Flames.

Heal, who did not attend court, was represented by renowned defamation lawyer Bruce Burke, who recently helped radio broadcaster Ray Hadley win a legal battle against developer Jean Nassif.

Star barrister Sue Chrysanthou, who recently celebrated Lisa Wilkinson’s major win against Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation action, is advising Heal. Both lawyers are working on Heal’s case pro bono.

Justice Stephen Rothman was urged by the legal team of the Flames and Denholms to throw the case out. Instead, he gave Heal’s team extra time to submit further evidence, by June 14, and set the next hearing date for June 21.

According to court documents, the original investigation into Heal’s conduct was conducted by Ovartis Lawyers, who put paralegal Jess McLaughlin in charge of the case.

It was McLaughlin’s interviews with Rowe, Sjerven and Mangakahia, along with team manager Mitch Fuller, team captain Keely Froling and teammate Jocelyn Willoughby, that formed the report upon which the Flames based their decision to axe Heal.

Tiana Mangakahia was among the Flames players interviewed by paralegal Jess McLaughlin. It was from those interviews the Flames decided to sack Shane Heal as coach. Picture: Getty Images

Trouble is, McLaughlin has been uncontactable.

She has left Ovartis.

Code Sport also attempted to track down McLaughlin to no avail.

Ovartis did not return calls.

McLaughlin’s investigation was conducted only by telephone interviews, between January 18-30, 2023.

She did not interview Flames assistant coaches Will Granger or Shelley Gorman, a three-time Olympian who will be a witness for Heal in this case.

According to court documents Rowe alleged Heal had acted rudely and insensitively when she suffered an asthma attack before a training session, and then couldn’t train the following day. McLaughlin said the claim could only be partly substantiated.

Rowe also claimed Heal demeaned her during a game, yelling at her during a match against Perth to pass instead of shoot, after calling her a “non-passer” at a previous training session, but McLaughlin found this could not be corroborated and did not constitute bullying.

Kiera Rowe, pictured playing for Nunawading in the NBL1 South, claimed Shane Heal demeaned her during a game. Picture: Peter Ristevski

McLaughlin’s report stated that Sjerven [Complainant 2] alleged that: “On 12 December 2022, during a film session of the recent game against the Capitals, Mr Heal made repeated remarks about errors made by Complainant 2. When the complainant asked for advice on what to do better, Mr Heal allegedly told her ‘to work it out yourself’. According to court documents Complainant 2 pressed the issue and asked to meet with Mr Heal after the film session at which time he told her that she was the reason they lost the game.”

The Flames did in fact win the game against the Capitals, 92-80.

According to court documents Sjerven also alleged Heal belittled her during a passing drill on December 27, 2022. She said Heal pulled her up because her “throw does not have the correct spiral”, then took her to the other side of the court to throw the ball against the wall for 10 minutes to practice the correct technique.

During this time, Sjerven expressed to Heal that she felt he did not want her on the team, and that at one stage he said she was “un-coachable”, leading the player to cry. Heal denied using the term “un-coachable” or that he wanted her off the team. Sjerven also said she was “roasted” by Heal during a video review when the coach repeatedly replayed a clip and said “you messed that up”, when Sjerven felt she’d done nothing wrong.

Three Flames players made allegations that Shane Heal verbally abused them, or criticised them in front of teammates. Picture: Getty Images

According to court documents McLaughlin found the incident was likely to have occurred the way it was described by Sjerven.

Mangakahia alleged that during a game Heal told her: “No one knows what the f--- you are doing”, and later at a training session telling her: “You’re the reason why we’re losing, because you make the most mistakes.”

Froling told McLaughlin she recalled Heal talking to Mangakahia in “a belittling” manner.

Heal told McLaughlin: “I have never said to any player ‘you make the most mistakes’ and ‘you are the reason why we are losing’.”

According to court documents McLaughlin found that Heal’s behaviour toward Mangakahia constituted bullying.

After he was sacked, Heal commenced legal action in the Federal Court for breach of contract over unpaid leave.

Shane Heal commenced legal action against the Flames after he was sacked. Picture: Getty Images

Justice John Halley ruled last month that the Flames had not provided Heal with pay slips. However, while Justice Halley dismissed Heal’s claims of a conspiracy against him by the club, the ruling did not deal specifically deal with the allegations.

This was cited by the submission made by the Flames’ own lawyers at the time, who said: “Mr Heal appears to consider that these proceedings will involve an inquiry into the allegations made against him, and/or into the fairness of the investigation. They do not, and the Court will not be required to make findings regarding those matters”.

But now, in the Supreme Court, that veracity of the allegations is exactly what could be assessed should the matter proceed to trial.

Victoria Denholm was made the president of the Flames in December 2022.

According to sources, there was obvious friction between her and Heal over a raft of issues including recruitment and strategy.

Originally published as Shane Heal: Tesla boss, legal investigator, entwined in Sydney Flames defamation case