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As most know here I'm a Freo supporter but I think he's going to bring a lot of heat on himself by failing to admit he is the club official at the centre of this harassment case and taking the legal line about respect and responsibility policy. I don't think this is going to go away and casts a shadow over himself and the club IMO.

Every coach must get peed off with the idiots in the press, but now and then Ross must drop the angry, tough guy persona. Now’s the time Ross, you’ll gain some public respect if you handle this right. At the moment, i imagine there’s quite a few people that would like to see you fall.

The stain will hang over him for a long time but it'll eventually go away as being newsworthy coz the AFL and Freo have signed off on it....plus the fact it happened a few years ago. These days you cant say anything that might offend someone no matter how trivial it is as I'm told by the luminaries on here that the test is based on how the aggrieved feels and not what is community standards or passes the pub test.

I actually feel sorry for Ross. This incident happened 4 years ago and it has been investigated twice,once by Fremantle and then by the AFL Integrity unit. If there had been anything out of line,you would think Ross would have been disciplined at that stage but the process used was ticked off.
You would also assume there would have been a mediation process and it is not unusual for there to be some sort of payout to the complainant. Not hush money as has been commented on in the media,but usually compensation for lost wages,stress and hurt caused to the complainant. This is not necessarily an admission of guilt on behalf of the alleged harasser but a gesture of goodwill in recognition of the impact that it had on the female staff member.

If the behaviour was as reported in the media (i.e comments about attire) I can tell you that it would rate as a 1 out of 10 on the Harvey Weinstein scale. I am not trivialising it but that is the reality when you look at some of the Sexual harassment cases that have involved other high profile people. Usually at the end of a mediated process both parties sign off on an agreement which then binds them to keep the outcomes confidential to protect both peoples identity. Obviously I don't know if this happened but what Ross Lyon may have been doing in the interview tonight was respecting that confidentiality whereas the complainant for reasons best known to herself appears to have chosen to breach the agreement by approaching the media via some "close sources" So now Lyon is going through a 3rd investigation by the media. Dare I say witch hunt?

As much as I think Ross has pulled the wool over freos eyes by channeling Mick malthouse for the past 6 years, there are way too many cases of #metoo et. That are bullshit.
Should go back to police charge's for stuff like this.. too many times people make claims that are unsubtantiated.

Or on the other side of the coin, we know how powerful and corrupt ( shock horror) that AFL clubs are as well as the all powerful AFL. NO-one will ever know the truth, thats the only definate. My respect for the clubs and the afl in dealing with things is a big fat ZERO. Protection of the AFL brand is papramount and IMHO knows no bounds to protect it, and they care little for any colateral damage

My question is why would you watch anything that the magistrates nephew does and let alone believe comes out!

From my mail on this subject and my personal experience in a similar case Mikeh has it mostly covered.

There are 2 policies in play here, the AFL Respect and Responsibility policy and state work place relations policies. When I made a similar complaint via the respective work place union and their legal team I was informed that the likely outcome should I continue to pursue the matter would be a parting of ways with compensation matching the current unfair dismissal terms which at the time was 6 months of my current salary. I was also told there would be a confidentiality clause.

I’d say the case at the Fremantle FC went the same way.

Seems to me that press are going to keep on hammering this one til they get the big headline they are chasing....