Pair of witnesses defend Furlong
DEFAMATION CASE: Robinson ‘aggressive,’ both say
A former head coach of Canada’s men’s basketball team took the stand Tuesday in defence of John Furlong at the trial in which the former Vancouver Olympics CEO is being sued for defamation.
Ken Shields said he received a phone call from freelance journalist Laura Robinson, who filed the defamation suit against Furlong, in 1994 during the world championships in Germany.
“It was a very aggressive, I would say, caustic call accusing me of racial bias,” Shields said. “It was just a horrendous experience. I didn’t feel that she was open to anything I said.”
Shields told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge that Robinson accused him of racism in his selection of the national team. He said he got a second call from Robinson after the world championships and she alleged that he had selected white players over black players. Shields said he invited Robinson to contact his staff and players, and denied the allegations.
Shields said that when Robinson published a story alleging racism in the selection process for the Globe and Mail newspaper, he was “devastated” and moved to sue her and the paper. Eventually the case was settled before going to court and an independent investigation into the allegations cleared him of any wrongdoing, he said.
When he heard that Robinson had published a story in the Georgia Straight newspaper alleging that Furlong had physically abused former students more than 40 years ago, he contacted Furlong and said he would testify on his behalf.
A second witness called by Furlong also defended him. Rusty Goepel, former chair of the nominating and governance committee of VANOC, said he got a phone call from Robinson asking him about when Furlong had come to Canada from Ireland and outlining the allegations, which he said he didn’t believe.
He described Robinson as being “very aggressive” and “extremely dramatic.” “This was like an ambush.” Furlong initially filed his own defamation suit against Robinson, who launched a countersuit. After three civil lawsuits alleging he’d sexually abused students were dismissed, Furlong dropped his lawsuit. He has repeatedly denied ever physically or sexually abusing students at a Catholic school in Burns Lake where he was a volunteer teacher. An RCMP investigation into a sex abuse allegation against Furlong resulted in no charges being laid.