Racism claims filed in court against Collingwood Magpies

The AFL has been urged to strip Collingwood of premiership points should explosive fresh racism allegations be proven in court.

The Magpies, including chief executive Craig Kelly, are facing damning claims that on Monday were filed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

Mark Cleaver, the club’s former head of First Nations strategy, is the sole applicant in the case, while the Collingwood Football Club is the only respondent.

In the documents, Mr Cleaver alleges he was told by Mr Kelly he did not “give a f*** if you put a live f***ing possum” in a proposed cultural room and he just wanted club president Jeff Browne and vice-president Jodie Sizer “off my arse” before forcefully throwing a marngrook (a ball used by Indigenous peoples in Victoria made of possum hair) at him.

He also alleges Mr Kelly called Indigenous elder Aunty Carol Thorpe a “dumb old b...h” after leaving a meeting where she had corrected him after he said he cared “about our Indigenous people”.

Among other allegations are that Mr Kelly told Mr Cleaver he “assumes your people can navigate with their eyes closed” when he used Google Maps during a car trip and that he joked about sending a photo of a ‘Free Palestine’ sign to a Jewish colleague.

Mr Cleaver, who is no longer employed at the club, is seeking compensation for “hurt, humiliation and distress and economic loss”.

A first hearing for the case is listed for August 27.

“The allegations in this case call into question whether the Collingwood Football Club has learned anything from its multiple self-inflicted racism scandals,” Daniel Victory, principal with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said.

“We are entitled to expect more from a club that has promised to do better.

“The conduct alleged in this case has no place in society or any sporting club and especially not in a league that holds itself out as an agent for social change.

“The AFL should consider penalising premiership points from clubs if allegations like this are proven.”

Collingwood said it was “aware of allegations made by a former staff member”.

“Collingwood continues to work hard on our commitment of ensuring our environment and workplace is welcoming, safe and inclusive at all times, on and off the field,” the club said in a statement.

“We take all matters raised seriously and when the former staff member raised matters internally in March this year, the Club looked into those concerns in line with our organisation’s workplace policies and procedures.

“In addition to the internal process which took place, an external expert was engaged to review the findings. Both processes found no breach of workplace law.

“Following the conclusion of both processes, the former staff member made further allegations to Victoria Police, which examined them and determined not to take any further action.”

The Magpies said Mr Cleaver was not at the club for a long period.

“The former staff member was employed by Collingwood for a period of six months. The employment ended for reasons unrelated to their concerns. Following their departure, the former staff member lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission but the matter was not resolved,” the club said.

“While it is unfortunate this situation has not been resolved, the Club believes that it has acted lawfully and intends to defend the matter.”

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said the league’s integrity unit was made aware of a human resources workplace complaint by a Collingwood employee.

“The matter was deemed a workplace issue for the club and was triaged to the club’s HR department to manage accordingly,” Allen told AAP.

The Nightly does not suggest any of the allegations made in the court document are true, and acknowledges that neither Collingwood nor Mr Kelly has filed any responsive documents in the case.

In 2021, Collingwood commissioned an independent review to deal with racism.

Former Magpies president Eddie McGuire labelled the release of the report “a historic and proud day”.

A week after his highly-criticised comments, McGuire stood down following more than 20 years in charge.

Collingwood and the AFL have been contacted for comment.