We’ve been following the petty story of Israel closely for some time now. It was obvious it wasn’t going to end well for Rugby Australia and, lo it came to pass.
They’ve settled with him before the court case, probably because of the minor difficulty that they forgot to insist on a social media clause when his contract was renewed 10 months ago.
I’d guess that mistake is worth about 5 years’ of his salary, so somewhere between $7m and $8m.
The missing social media restriction clause would have been no more than 50 words. So, about $150k a word.
Even Ed Sheeran doesn’t get paid at that rate.
In the main, the commentators on this organ knew what was going on; this was the latest skirmish in the Great Culture War of 2019. Obviously, ever the contrarian, Bardon decided Folau wouldn’t win the case.
If he’d gone to court, perhaps he wouldn’t. But, as we say in our house, “if me mam had wheels she’d be a trolley“.
I daren’t look at Pirate Pete’s opinion piece on the settlement. I genuinely haven’t read it but I imagine it will contain virtue signalling to the diverse (but not religious brown people), wokescolding against the religious bigots (but only one type), and soft criticism of Rugby Australia for signing inadequate contracts of employment.
Bill’s Opinion
As I have said repeatedly on this subject, I don’t care nor want to know what an athlete’s views are on theology.
I also would prefer to live in a world where those views, as long as they don’t call for violence, don’t result in them losing their job either.
Finally, the heuristic remains; if you need to quickly determine what is correct or to predict the future, check what Peter Fitzsimons has preached and assume the 180 degree position.
Thank God that is the end of this, not the last we will hear from Folau but the end of this sorry saga. The down side of a settlement is that we lose the opportunity to get a legal precedent on this situation once and for all.
Plus Steve won’t need to pony up anymore fighting funds for his legal budget either, you wouldn’t want the Tongan mafia coming after you looking for more money.
Yes, but you were wrong though, right?
Which bit was I wrong about.
Where you incorrectly predicted the result, such as
“…. Now you listen to me young man, you have made a complete cock of yourself since this whole thing exploded, you have sent the wrong message out, you have not attempted to mitigate damages in anyway, quite the opposite, the offer is reasonable and you should take it. I take it that you are aware of 772 (2) and where that leaves you if your allegation got legs, even though I doubt it would and it is likely to be thrown out well before it gets to there?”
Whereas it didn’t go to arbitration or court and he got a huge payout and an apology.
Sometimes its best that when you dont understand a process or the law surrounding it, not to comment on them as it reveals your level of understanding.
You and I will never know what the commissioner said, but having been involved in a few of them and being aware of the process, I know that they always go for the resolution which makes sense. To sell the opposing parties offer, the commissioner needs to make it sound compelling. The commissioners job was to first seek out a resolution, secondly arbitration and if unsuccessful certify that it could not be resolved allowing for a court application to be made. This is exactly what the commissioner done and certified, I certainly never predicted that it would be resolved at that early juncture and always said that a negotiated settlement was the best option and that it was always about the number.
The fact that they have now settled was the right thing to do, I never said that they wouldn’t. RA would be mad to hunker down for a long front page demoralizing legal battle, particularly with the vociferous liberal do-gooders writing blank checks to fight his case and eventual appeal all the way up through the various court systems.
“Falou is looking more like an isolated misguided Islander fool as each day goes by.”
Keep going. I’m here all week.
Never trust anyone over the age of 45 who still wears a bandanna.
There’s a better saying to sum him up; Churchill, that starts, “A young conservative is a man without a heart…..”