Folau's latest court-lodged documents turns heat up on 2018 emails from Raelene Castle
Israel Folau says Rugby Australia promised they would never seek to stymie his religious beliefs but when they changed their mind, he refused to comply with their conditions.
That’s one of the sacked star’s many arguments in the latest chapter of his legal battle with the sporting authority, as the 30-year-old fights to be reinstated and receive an apology.
Lawyers for Folau lodged more documents with the Federal Circuit Court on Thursday, as he sues RA and the NSW Waratahs for unlawful dismissal over controversial Instagram comments.
In an email from RA boss Raelene Castle in April 2018, he was told the organisation respected his religious views. “Rugby Australia would never ask or expect him to act in a manner or way that is contrary to his beliefs,” the documents state.
But months later they changed their tune. “Rugby Australia attempted to have Mr Folau ‘agree and acknowledge’ certain purported limitations on his ability to use social media and otherwise comment publicly, but he did not do so,” the documents state.
(Continue reading below…)
Folau claims he did not agree and RA never followed up the issue. The staunch Christian, previously in hot water for his social media comments, also denied claims the RA boss warned him there would be “significant consequences” if there was another incident.
“Mr Folau told Ms Castle that he appreciated where she was coming from, but that he had a right to express his religious beliefs about what was in the Bible,” his lawyers said.
In one social media post, Folau claimed transgender people were evil and should repent. In another, he paraphrased a Bible passage saying “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators” would go to hell unless they repented.
In the latest court documents, Folau also took a swipe at the appointment of a human rights lawyer to the Rugby Australia-convened three-person tribunal which investigated his behaviour and ultimately recommended his sacking.
Folau objected at the time to the appointment of Kate Eastman SC “on the grounds of apprehended bias”, partly due to her advocacy for the LGBTI community. She previously chaired the Law Council of Australia’s Equal Opportunity Committee, the NSW Bar Association’s Diversity and Equality Committee and the Australian Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
“Rather than accept Mr Folau’s concern and appoint another legal practitioner (or, indeed, any other person) to replace Ms Eastman SC, Rugby Australia opposed Mr Folau’s application.”
What next for Israel Folau? #RugbyAustralia #Wallabies #Waratahs pic.twitter.com/HE3WSx0Fi7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 17, 2019
RA claims Folau’s expressions of faith had always been supported, “provided that these were done in a respectful and inclusive manner”.
“Rugby Australia’s objection to the posts at issue was not their religious content but rather their tone and attributes,” the defence document states.
Folau’s contract with RA was terminated in May this year. His matter will return to court on December 17 ahead of a trial if mediation is unsuccessful.
– AAP
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Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments