Essendon’s short-lived chief executive Andrew Thorburn has hired legal counsel and is pursuing legal action against the club after he was forced to resign.
The former NAB boss quit the Bombers barely 24 hours after his appointment following criticism of his role as chair of conservative church City on a Hill which had hosted sermons likening abortion rates to the Holocaust and posted offensive views on the church’s website.
Sources said lawyers for Thorburn and Essendon had been in negotiations for weeks over the circumstances of his departure from Essendon. Thorburn’s position has hardened in recent times with the former banker believing the case is of religious discrimination and wanting satisfaction for damage to his reputation.
Andrew Thorburn.Credit:Jamie Brown
Thorburn made statements when he parted with Essendon that his concern was not about money but principle.
He said at the time that freedom of religion, conscience, thought and association were explicitly recognised as human rights under Victorian law.
“It is troubling that faith or association with a church, mosque, synagogue or temple could render a person immediately unsuited to holding a particular role,” Thorburn said in a statement at the time.
“That is a dangerous idea, one that will only reduce tolerance for others and diversity of thought and participation in our community and workplaces.”
A spokesman for Thorburn on Thursday said the former banker declined to comment on retaining legal counsel and any legal action against Essendon. An Essendon spokesman also declined to comment.
Thorburn was initially hired by Essendon to conduct a review of the board and the football club.
In a period of turmoil four board members left the board and chief executive Xavier Campbell quit all on the one day.
In searching for a new chief executive the club then considered Thorburn, the man running the review, as the right person for the job. As the former head of a big four bank, albeit one who was heavily criticised by the banking royal commission, he had a strong CV for a football administrator.
Less than 24 hours after his appointment, it emerged that the City on the Hill church of which Thorburn was chair, held sermons likening abortion rates to the Holocaust and posted homophobic material on its website. The small conservative church is part of the Melbourne Anglican diocese.
Thorburn was given an ultimatum by the club to either quit his position as chair of the church or quit as CEO.
“As soon as the comments relating to a 2013 sermon from a pastor, at the City of the Hill church came to light this morning, we acted immediately to clarify the publicly espoused views on the organisation’s official website, which are in direct contradiction to our values as a club,” Essendon president David Barham said when Thorburn quit.
“Essendon is committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and a safe club, where everyone is welcome and respected.
“The board made clear that, despite these not being views that Andrew Thorburn has expressed personally and that were also made prior to him taking up his role as chairman, he couldn’t continue to serve in his dual roles at the Essendon Football Club and as chairman of City on the Hill.”
