Essendon doctor Bruce Reid begins legal action against AFL at Supreme Court

ESSENDON club doctor Bruce Reid has taken his allegations of "bias"' against AFL chiefs and the league commission to court.

Bruce Reid

ESSENDON club doctor Bruce Reid has taken his allegations of "bias"' against AFL chiefs and the league commission to court.

Reid today formally began legal action against the AFL by lodging a writ in the Victorian Supreme Court.

He is seeking to have the matter heard by an independent mediator like a retired judge, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Reid has been charged by the AFL with bringing the game into disrepute for his role in the Bombers' 2012 supplements scandal.

In documents lodged today, he has asked the court to back his demand for an independent hearing claiming the AFL and the AFL Commission are too biased and conflicted to rule on the charges.

In the writ, Reid's lawyers refer to an exchange between AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick and counsel for Dr Reid, Ross Gillies QC, on August 27 - the day Essendon accepted its raft of penalties which included being booted from the finals.

Chairman (Fitzpatrick:) Mr Gillies ?

Mr Gillies: There has been no development in Dr Reid's case for the very good reason that we have not been approached with any offer.

Chairman: Do you want to be ?

Mr Gillies: We have made our position quite clear, acquittal is the only result we will deal with.
Chairman: It might be a lonely day.

Reid's counsel will argue that the fact the Commission passed judgement on the Bombers as a club, and coach James Hird among other staff made it biased in its view of the long-serving club doctor.

Reid believes he is innocent, and should not have to accept punishment because the club did.

In the writ, Reid's lawyers say any finding by the AFL that cleared the doctor "would be embarrassing to the AFL including the Commission'' - making such a finding unlikely.

"We believe that if the Commission was the hear the charge it would be in a conflicted position, in which it was required to rule on the propriety of the conduct of the AFL and the Commission,'' the writ states.

Reasons Reid's counsel believe the Commission are too biased, outlined in the writ, include:

* "Frequent informal and familiar references by the Chairman (Fitzpatrick) to counsel assisting as Jeff'' - in reference to the AFL's lawyer Jeff Gleeson, SC.

* Fitzpatrick's reference to the Essendon situation at the start of the AFL commission hearing on August 26 as "a very unfortunate matter''.

* The conclusion expressed by Fitzpatrick during Essendon's grilling before the commission that: "We can't let - no matter how clever they were in disguising what they were doing, we can't ever let a group of people take hold of a player group in the way this group did. That must never happen again. Frankly what happened (at Essendon) is probably the worst thing that has happened in a footy club''.

The AFL is yet to respond but has previously denied Reid's request for an independent and public hearing.