Ex-WNBL coach suspended for allegedly bullying his players has defamation case thrown out 

The NSW Supreme Court has dismissed the defamation case of Shane Heal, an ex-NBL player and former coach of the Sydney Flames.

Shane Heal, who represented the Australian Boomers at four different summer Olympics, recently sued the WNBL team, the Sydney Flames – whom he coached – on the grounds that they allegedly defamed his character.

Heal – who coached the Flames for three years – was removed from his role based on a litany of allegations claiming that he bullied multiple players as head coach, engaged in conduct posing a risk to players’ health/safety, caused players to require counselling from the Australian Basketball Players Association, and behaved so “appallingly” that the organisation had to suspend him to protect the women he was coaching.

The Flames subsequently suspended Heal from his position as head coach based on these allegations, which led to a dispute in the Federal Court between Heal and members of the Sydney Flames organisation, with Heal alleging that the Flames had taken “adverse action” against him in retaliation for him exercising his workplace rights.

According to Heal’s submissions in the Federal Court, Heal claimed the initial suspension and investigation into the bullying allegations was a result of him raising complaints about workplace issues, labelling the investigation as a “smoke screen”.

Weeks after the Flames suspended Heal, the organisation’s media team released a statement regarding the ongoing investigation and the findings they had made relating to the allegations – Heal claimed that this media statement “harmed” him and was, therefore, adverse action due to “the timing of its release” and the damage it had on his “reputation”.

Judge John Halley – who oversaw the case in the Federal Court – found the media statement did not prejudice Heal in any way, as the statement did not disclose anything that was not already in the public realm.

Halley, therefore, dismissed the case on the basis that no “adverse action” was taken by the employer.

Heal then initiated an NSW Supreme Court (NSWSC) defamation case after the Federal Court decision, once again relying on the media statement published by the Sydney Flames as his key source for the defamation claim.

However, due to the findings made in the Federal Court that the media statement caused no reputational damages, the NSWSC found that Heal should have raised defamation claims in the original Federal Court proceedings, as relitigating the same critical issues to seek damages for defamation constitutes an “abuse of process”.

The NSWSC dismissed Heal’s defamation case. He also had to pay the legal costs of the defendants involved in the case.