Folau hires gun lawyer
ISRAEL Folau has hired Jarryd Hayne and Dylan Walker’s lawyer for the most intriguing workplace termination battle in Australian sports history.
Ramy Qutami, who is representing Hayne in his fight against a sexual assault allegation and Walker for alleged domestic violence, will now take up the fight against Rugby Australia on Folau’s behalf.
The unprecedented case will pit an argument of the freedom for religious expression against an employer’s right to sack someone for vilifying people based on their sexuality after a formal warning.
The Wallabies star told Rugby Australia yesterday he would fight the termination of his $4 million contract, so the matter would head to a code of conduct hearing within a fortnight.
A date has yet to be set because three independent panel members must be agreed upon by Rugby Australia, the Rugby Union Players’ Association and Folau’s team, and then a date found when all three are available.
With the Easter and Anzac Day public holidays approaching, it is not expected that a hearing will take place before April 29.
Qutami did not want to comment when contacted, however those close to the director of law firm Madison Marcus say he is “extremely confident” in Folau’s case against his bosses.
Regardless of the outcome of the hearing, this case is damaging rugby and the consequence will be the likely loss of millions of dollars in sponsorship as brands seek to distance themselves from the drama.
And there’s no guarantee the code of conduct hearing will end the saga. Both parties will have avenues to appeal against the final decision.
Those who know Qutami say he would be willing to take the case to the courts if the panel enforces Folau’s sacking.
Religious expression has never been tried in the NSW courts as a defence to vilification, those claims are settled internally within a company’s human resources department, making this uncharted territory for workplace law.
Folau’s defence will rely on two key elements; that his social media posts were not his own words but that he was quoting scripture, and that there is no specific social media clause in his contract stopping him from doing so.
Rugby Australia will argue Folau breached the standard code of conduct in his contract by saying homosexuals are destined for hell unless they repent their sins.
He was also given a formal warning letter last year for making similar comments on social media.