Fremantle coach Ross Lyon accused of secret payment to woman
A JUNIOR Fremantle staffer accused club coach Ross Lyon of making a lewd comment about her appearance at a club Christmas party, prompting a secret payout, it can be revealed.
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LATEST: A junior Fremantle staffer accused club coach Ross Lyon of making a lewd comment about her appearance, prompting a secret payout.
The Herald Sun can reveal Lyon is alleged to have made indecent and suggestive remarks to her at a club Christmas party at a Fremantle bar.
Sources close to the young woman have claimed that a friend had to intervene and rescue her.
The woman left her job following the alleged incident several years ago. A complaint was made to the club late last year.
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In December, around the time the Sunday Herald Sun revealed the case, the woman received a five-figure payout, and on April 14, the Herald Sun revealed Fremantle was the club involved.
The AFL has since faced questions about its treatment of sexual harassment complainants, transparency, and its Respect and Responsibility Policy.
An integrity unit inquiry found no sanctions were required.
At the weekend, chief executive Gillon McLachlan and chairman Richard Goyder both defended the AFL’s handling of the case. But the controversy has prompted calls to ban secret payments to harassment victims to end a “cover-up culture”.
Liz Ellis, a former Australian netball captain and panellist on Channel 9’s Sports Sunday, said that payments in exchange for silence were unacceptable. She said: “I find it staggering to think that the AFL thinks it’s OK to do that.
“We’re in a brave new world now. This should have been a red flag.”
The Herald Sun has spoken to several sources with knowledge of the case, but is not suggesting that the allegations are accurate — only that they were made.
Asked last week whether payments to victims were against the AFL’s Respect and Responsibility Policy, McLachlan said: “The core part of the policy is actually resolving the issue.
“It is part of the policy for it to be confidential, and there is a wide series of options available for getting resolution — without making any comment about what happened at Fremantle.”
But a source close to the case said the victim had been warned not to talk: “They’ve said that if anyone talks it will be stopped — the payment.”
Another source said: “So much is geared towards protecting a lot of people.”
Last night, neither Lyon, the club, nor the AFL had clarified whether club funds or Lyon’s own cash was used to pay the complainant.
The AFL dodged questions from the Herald Sun for months about the status of its integrity unit investigation.
It only revealed the case was closed “months ago” after the Herald Sun’s April report naming Fremantle.
Controversy over the Lyon case has been exacerbated after an AFL decision last week to suspend Port Adelaide midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper for three weeks for inappropriate behaviour to a woman at an Adelaide bar.
McLachlan denied Powell-Pepper had been sanctioned because he had been named publicly, while Lyon, till Monday, had been anonymous.
Ellis said the AFL had also applied a different standard to its former operations boss Simon Lethlean and commercial manager Richard Simkiss, forced out last July after inappropriate sexual relationships with junior staff.
“I thought they were strong on this stuff and that’s what they stand for,” she said.
“I don’t understand why the AFL has allowed this to happen and that if it’s a senior coach then it’s really different. You can’t make some people dispensable and others not.
“The Respect and Responsibility Policy is not worth the paper it is written on.”
Carolyn Worth, of the Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault, said the AFL must be transparent.
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“Victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment have a right to privacy but that does not extend to the perpetrator, and if you’re going to change a culture you need to do it in public with transparent processes,” she said.
“You have to do it in a public forum. You can’t pay people off.”
The Herald Sun first contacted Freo chief executive Steve Rosich about the Lyon complaint last December 16. He did not return calls.
On Monday, he said: “This was a workplace matter that has been resolved by the club and independently investigated by the AFL’s Integrity Unit at the request of the club, the subject of the complaint and with due respect and care for our former employee. With regard to the requested investigation under the AFL’s Respect and Responsibility Policy, the league completed it some months ago to the AFL’s and the club’s full satisfaction and no sanction was imposed.”
The AFL has denied the payment was hush money.
It said last night the case was resolved after an integrity unit investigation ensuring privacy, care and full transparency, which was in accordance with the Respect and Responsibility Policy.
The Herald Sun has sent questions to WorkCover WA about the matter.
Originally published as Fremantle coach Ross Lyon accused of secret payment to woman
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