Danni Roche calls for an urgent culture change at the AOC amid allegations of bullying
UPDATE: EMBATTLED AOC president John Coates has issued an apology and admitted that a term he used in a leaked email when referring to an employee with cancer was inappropriate.
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EMBATTLED AOC president John Coates has issued an apology for comments he made in a leaked email when referring to an employee with cancer.
Coates, who has come under increasing pressure in recent days amid ongoing allegations of bullying and intimidation within the AOC, admitted using the term “sheltered workshop” was wrong.
“Of course, it was the wrong choice of words,” Mr Coates said in a statement.
“I know that because I’ve spent most of my adult life advancing the cause of disabilities and for which the Australian Paralympic Committee extended me its highest award — the Australian Paralympic medal. It’s actually one of the things I’m proudest of.
“Yes, I got the email wrong and apologise.”
The apology came just hours after Danni Roche — who will stand against Coates in next week’s AOC presidential election — called for urgent changes following revelations of a toxic workplace culture.
Earlier this week Fiona de Jong released a dossier detailing 12 separate cases of alleged workplace bullying.
Roche today demanded an “independent and transparent investigation.”
“I’m very concerned about the culture at the AOC,” Roche said.
TIMELINE: HOW THE TIFF BECAME ALL OUT WAR
“On the day I announced I was standing for the role, I made a commitment to resetting the philosophy and culture of the AOC
“The need for change is now clear. It needs to change and needs to change now.
“Allegations of bullying and intimidation are of a very serious nature.
“Bullying and intimidation have no place in any workplace, let alone one that is responsible for promoting and upholding the spirit of the Olympic movement.”
Coates’ comments were condemned by Federal Sports Minister Greg Hunt and Australian Paralympic Committee chief executive Lynne Anderson.
“The language was inappropriate in the past, it’s completely unacceptable in this day and age,” he said.
“Language which flippantly casts aspersions on those with disability is not appropriate has no place in Australian public or private discourse.”
Paralympic gold medallist Dylan Alcott was also critical of Coates’s remarks.
“A sheltered workshop is where able-bodied people and disabled people work separately but it’s used colloquially to belittle an able-bodied person saying you’re acting like someone with a disability or you can’t do a role,” he told the ABC.
“What it says is basically people with disabilities are second-class citizens we cannot do the work of an able-bodied person.”
READ DE JONG’S FULL DOCUMENT (PDF)
Danni Roche says she is ‘very concerned’ about the culture at AOC and allegations need to be investigated urgently https://t.co/bJWnn9igPh pic.twitter.com/rElUCm5Wc8
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 27, 2017
Yesterday the AOC commissioned an independent review into specific allegations made against it media director Mike Tancred who has stepped aside from his position until the investigation is complete.
Calling for urgent action, Roche added: “I believe both matters need to be investigated independently and transparently.
“The need for change is now clear. It needs to change and needs to change now.
“Allegations of bullying and intimidation are of a very serious nature (they) have no place in any workplace, let alone one that is responsible for promoting and upholding the spirit of the Olympic movement.
“The AOC has commissioned a review into specific allegations made by its media director, an internal investigation into workplace culture.
“I believe both matters need to be investigate independently, transparently and urgently.”
An AOC crisis meeting was called this week which resulted in independent legal experts being called in to rule on alleged bullying cases, but it won’t happen until after a bitter presidency battle is decided on May 6.
The AOC executive said three retired judges or senior counsel, including at least one woman, will rule on whether Tancred bullied former chief executive De Jong.
The move came hours before a teleconference of the AOC executive, which appointed an independent committee to rule on the case.
The AOC board said the committee would rule within one month of being appointed but didn’t offer a time frame for its appointment.
The executive also said the AOC would “commission an independent review, overseen by the incoming CEO, into workplace practices to ensure the best possible environment for our staff”.
There was no time frame specified for the appointment of the new chief executive. De Jong quit as chief executive role last December and lodged a bullying complaint against Tancred, alleging he threatened her and her family.
On Wednesday, de Jong released a letter and a chain of emails in which Coates — facing his first challenge for the AOC presidency in 27 years — told a cancer- suffering AOC staffer that she didn’t work in a “sheltered workshop”. The Australian Paralympic Committee objected to the use of the term as de Jong also outlined a dozen alleged instances of workplace harassment in the AOC from 2004 to last year.
“I’m not sure how many complaints are required in order for an organisation to be characterised as having a culture of bullying,” de Jong wrote. “But, on any analysis, it is untrue for my complaint to be characterised as an isolated incident.”
READ DE JONG’S FULL DOCUMENT (PDF)
JOHN COATES TIMELINE
Elected to a (now defunct) position of Honorary Secretary of Australian Amateur Rowing Council (now known as Rowing Australia).
Becomes a member of the AOC
Becomes president of Australian Amateur Rowing Council (now known as Rowing Australia).
Australia’s Deputy Chef De Mission for Los Angeles Games
Becomes vice president of the AOC
Australia’s Chef de Mission at Seoul, Barcelona (’92), Atlanta (’96), Sydney (’00), Athens (’04) and Beijing (’08).
A year after being made a member of the Order of Australia, Coates is voted in a president of the AOC
Council member of the World Rowing Federation (FISA)
Becomes a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport
In the same year as becoming an Officer of the Order of Australia, Coates becomes vice president of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport
Senior Vice-President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Sydney in 2000. A year later he becomes a member of the IOC
Coordination for the Games of the XXX Olympiad London 2012
Elected as a member of the executive board of the IOC (until 2013)
Becomes president of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport
Elected vice president of the IOC
Chair of the following Commissions: Coordination for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020
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