Two women at the centre of a sexual assault allegation involving Sydney Swans players are reportedly planning to sue the club and five of its players in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the women say they are preparing to launch civil action in the Common Law Division of the court and will claim damages for pain, suffering, psychological injury and economic loss.
“We are currently investigating the circumstances and preparing to commence legal proceedings against the club and potentially the individuals involved,” Manny Carbone, a partner at Carbone Lawyers, told The Age on Friday afternoon.
“Our clients are extremely traumatised and feel that their dignity and personal rights have been seriously violated by the events of Monday.”
It comes as the Swans hit back at claims of “misinformation” and threaten their own legal action after another lawyer from Carbone Lawyers made bombshell claims on Melbourne radio.
Partner and Head of Personal Injury Law and Litigation John Karantzis broke his silence on Friday morning, claiming what took place in a hotel room at the Pullman on Monday morning was “disgusting” and “abhorrent”.
Karantzis, who is representing two of the three women allegedly called to the room of Swans players, told 3AW’s Tom Elliot he was shocked by what allegedly occurred.
“Tom, can I just say at the outset, what has been alleged, these women were subjected to … disgusting actions and behaviour,” he said.
“These women already have a difficult job, and what they were subjected to, it is alleged, was demeaning, abhorrent and simply not moral or acceptable.
“They’re suffering severe stress and anxiety, they’re actually fearing for their life at the moment.
“There’s a lot of interest in this case and they are literally in hiding and they are suffering.”
Elliot asked Karantzis if things went further than agreed between the adult entertainers and the players in the early hours of Monday morning before police were called to the five-star hotel.
“Unfortunately, that’s the case, things did get out of hand. I can’t go into details … however the line was crossed and unfortunately what they’ve been subjected to I literally cannot say on the radio.”
Elliot asked the lawyer: “But it is very, very bad?”
“Exactly,” Karantzis said. “For this to occur in a public setting with quite a few people involved, it’s unbelievable in this day and age that these type of things can occur in public.”
Elliot asked Karantzis if there were more than five people in the room with the women.
“You’re saying there were more than five men there?”
“Yes, more than five men and it’s alleged there were even a few leaders in that room.”
The lawyer said the women involved “feel like enough is enough” and “they want justice, they want their voice to be heard”.
He said he wanted “an apology and full transparency as to who was involved and what occurred”.
“Are you saying the club hasn’t been transparent?” Elliot asked him.
“That is my understanding,” Karantzis said.
“Tom, you and I have young daughters. We would be horrified if they were subjected to a tenth of what they were subjected to on Monday morning.
“This type of behaviour is just not acceptable and it keeps occurring.
“I’ve got a lot of sympathy for these women. For them to be humiliated and degraded in this way, it’s just not on, it’s not acceptable.”
News.com.au is not suggesting the claims of the lawyer are true, just that they are the allegations made on behalf of the women involved.
At a press conference on Friday morning, Swans head coach Dean Cox was asked directly about who was in the room.
Cox said he “wasn’t in the room”, but would not elaborate when asked if other staff members were in the room.
When asked if any Swans staff members were in the room, Cox said: “That’s a police investigation.”
A reporter asked Cox for a second time. “Isn’t that something the Swans would know? You can answer that.”
“That’s a police investigation so all (of) that will be brought out in due course,” Cox said.
The Swans issued a statement after the press conference grilling on Friday morning.
“The Sydney Swans can confirm that all investigations carried out by the Club have consistently indicated that the only representatives of the Club in the room central to the police investigation were the five players who have been stood down,” the statement read.
“We have every reason to consider that reports to the contrary are simply false.
“We are respecting the process with the relevant authorities and will refrain from commenting on Police matters.
“We would also like to take this opportunity to condemn some of the misinformation being reported and are now considering our legal position on those matters.”
Cox was also asked directly about the claims made by the lawyer for the two women this morning.
“Dean, a lawyer for two of the women spoke this morning and described the behaviour as disgusting, abhorrent, the worst he has ever heard of a woman being subjected to in his 28 years of being a lawyer,” a journalist said.
“How do you respond to that?”
‘I respond to — the utmost, the highest level about respecting women. I have always been like that,” Cox said.
“I can’t comment on what a lawyer says about something other than, you know, we’ll work through our process and my stance on respect for women is of the highest order.”
The Swans were in Melbourne on Sunday night to play Essendon and could not fly back to Sydney because of an airport curfew.
Several players carried on drinking well into the morning before returning to the Pullman Hotel where it is alleged they organised for adult entertainers to join them.
The club earlier this week stood down five players — Nick Blakey, James Jordon, Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Riley Bice — for the rest of the season they were found to have breached the club’s standards of behaviour.
It is reported that Heeney is at the centre of the alleged sexual assault investigation but no arrests or charges have been laid and he has not yet been formally interviewed by police.
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