Letter from Chris Fagan’s lawyers played part in ending of AFL’s Hawks racism investigation

A letter from Chris Fagan’s lawyers to Leon Zwier, representative of the First Nations families, helped flip the AFL’s Hawthorn racism probe on its head. SEE THE FULL LETTER HERE.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 31: Chris Fagan the GM Football Operations at the Hawks speaks to the media during a Hawthorn Hawks AFL media opportunity at Waverley Park on May 31, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

A legal letter sent by lawyers for Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan on Sunday helped turn the Hawthorn racism scandal on its head.

The email informed the four First Nations families at the centre of the saga that Fagan was set to launch a Supreme Court injunction against the AFL and its independent investigation panel.

The families were told that the move would see them become “defendants” in a court battle over the racism probe where they would be identified “by name”.

The Fagan letter was described by one support person as a factor in the families’ decision to agree to a deal with the league.

If successful in achieving an injunction, the AFL’s independent investigation would have come to an immediate end.

Lions coach Chris Fagan. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The email from Clayton Utz partner Scott Sharry and senior associate Stephen Hurford to the families’ lawyer Leon Zwier reads: “Our client intends in the week commencing 29 May 2023, and no later than Thursday, 1 June 2023, to commence a proceeding in the Supreme Court of Victoria for orders in the nature of permanent injunctions restraining the continuation of the investigation.

“The proceeding … will include each of your clients as defendants, identifying each by name, on the basis that they are (with others) necessary parties because they are directly affected by the relief to be sought.

“The proceeding to be filed will not disclose any “information” as defined in the Deed concerning your clients other than their names.

“As the proceeding progresses, however, additional ‘information’ will be disclosed as part of the proceeding. Your clients will be notified in advance of each disclosure pursuant to the Deed.”

The families discussed the contents of the email with Zwier during a crisis meeting on Monday.

The letter gave the families until 4pm Monday to respond.

The prospect of a deal between the players and their families and the AFL appeared dead in the water on Sunday, but on Tuesday night league boss Gillon McLachlan announced the Hawthorn racism investigation was over and that no “adverse findings’’ were found against former Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson, former club football manager Fagan and former welfare boss Jason Burt.

In turn, the families agreed not to take legal action against the league.

The families, who had been determined to receive an apology from the former Hawks trio, were instead given a generic apology by the league to any Indigenous player who had suffered racism in the history of the game.

At least one of the families involved now regrets agreeing to the AFL deal in the belief they were used as a pawn aimed at resolving the eight-month racism dispute.

Fagan during his time at Hawthorn. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Fagan engaged law firm Clayton Utz after the scandal erupted in grand final week last year.

The former Hawks footy boss has repeatedly said he would welcome the opportunity to give his side of the story.

“I am not a party to the agreement between the complainants, the investigation panel and the AFL,” Fagan said in a statement on Tuesday.

“But I stand vindicated by it. I have made no concessions. There are none to make.

“I have always vigorously defended myself, and will always do so, as I have done nothing wrong.”

Clarkson, Fagan and Burt have all denied wrongdoing.

Fagan and Zwier were contacted for comment.

Originally published as Letter from Chris Fagan’s lawyers played part in ending of AFL’s Hawks racism investigation