Former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong exposes multiple claims of bullying
UPDATE: THE AOC will commission an independent review into workplace practices as denigrating emails by under-siege president John Coates emerged.
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- Pressure mounts on Coates
- AOC rocked by bullying claims
- AOC crisis meeting over bullying claims
- AOC in crisis ahead of presidential vote
PRIVATE emails that show the denigration used in the workplace by Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates have emerged as he fights to save his $750,000-a-year job.
The release of the scathing correspondence came on a dramatic day when Coates’ media director Mike Tancred was forced to stand down over bullying claims.
Coates was on Wednesday locked in an emergency meeting of the AOC board, forced by the airing of bullying allegations, ahead of Saturday week’s AOC elections.
Under growing pressure, the AOC decided to commission an independent review into workplace practices to ensure the “best possible environment of our staff.”
Former AOC chief executive Fiona de Jong sensationally stepped into the bitter fight for control of our premier sports body, on Wednesday releasing an explosive dossier detailing 12 separate complaints and investigations into bullying within the organisation.
Seven complaints allegedly involve Tancred, a Coates loyalist, whose move to step down from his post was announced just 68 minutes after the Herald Sun exclusively published de Jong’s letter online.
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International Olympic Committee vice-president Coates was engulfed in a separate scandal, with claims a young female AOC employee undergoing chemotherapy was the subject of email attacks from him.
In emails released to the Herald Sun, Coates tells de Jong that the woman should “get out in the real world,” because he was not running “a sheltered workshop”.
Fighting to extend his 27-year presidential reign, Coates was accused by de Jong of making “inaccurate and misleading accusations” about the handling of her bullying complaint against Tancred.
The AOC on Wednesday night agreed to refer de Jong’s complaint to an independent committee with “appropriate experience and ability, and the committee will comprise three senior counsel or retired judges, including at least one female within its membership.”
Tancred stood down from his role as media and communications manager pending an investigation ahead of the presidency vote, in which Coates will be challenged by Olympic hockey champion Danni Roche.
De Jong, who separately claims Tancred threatened to “bury” her, was appalled at the treatment of her young colleague who was being treated for cancer.
She said Coates was aware of the young solicitor’s cancer battle because he had “sent flowers to the hospital”.
Coates sent the emails after the unnamed woman drew attention to a typo in the AOC constitution.
Chief financial officer Sue O’Donnell alerted Coates, who then blasted the woman in a message sent to six people, including senior AOC management.
He then turned his attention to O’Donnell, writing: “Please try to be more discerning before worrying me with crap like this again.”
De Jong wrote to Coates at the time, saying the woman was “most upset” by his email and “the public manner in which your opinions were expressed”.
Coates replied: “Do not hold back on accepting (the woman’s) resignation on my account.”
He added the next day: “(The woman) is a solicitor, hardly a junior member of staff. If she’s offended it’s probably time for her to get out in the real world. Ours is not a sheltered workshop. Kind regards, John.” The woman quit soon afterwards.
Coates attempted to distance himself from bullying claims on Monday, writing: “There is no place for bullying, and I reject the suggestion of a culture of ‘bullying’ or a lack of action in response to allegations of it.”
De Jong, who says her complaint against Tancred has not been properly acted upon, released stunning details of alleged chronic bullying at the AOC, dating back as far as 2004.
De Jong resigned last year from her $450,000 post.
In a letter sent to the 14-person AOC executive, de Jong wrote: “Mr Coates rejects the suggestion of a culture of bullying at the AOC and asserts that the current AOC processes for responding to complaints are impartial and rigorous.
“Regrettably that is not my experience, nor the experience of other former AOC employees who have lodged complaints, formally or informally, regarding inappropriate behaviour or bullying at the AOC.”
The AOC said in a statement issued at 1.23pm on Wednesday that Tancred was standing down “pending the outcome of any investigation of the complaint made against him by Fiona de Jong”.
It did not respond to a request for comment on de Jong’s claims.
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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