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Lumumba sues AFL, Collingwood over racism

Collingwood is being sued by Heritier Lumumba.

Collingwood is being sued by Heritier Lumumba. Photo: Getty

Heritier Lumumba is suing Collingwood and the AFL over racist abuse he was allegedly subjected to during his playing days, claiming he suffered trauma, humiliation, distress and loss of enjoyment.

As reported by The Age, Lumumba filed documents in the Supreme Court on Wednesday outlining his allegations.

The documents claimed Collingwood failed to protect Lumumba from racial abuse or racially-offensive conduct.

Lumumba also alleges the AFL did not take steps to protect him from the racial abuse.

“On numerous occasions during his employment, the plaintiff was subjected to racial abuse or racially-offensive conduct,” the court documents read.

“(Collingwood) failed to take any or any sufficient steps to provide and maintain a safe working environment, including by protecting the plaintiff from racial abuse or racially-offensive conduct.

“By reason of the matters set out above, the plaintiff has suffered loss, damage, and injury including trauma, humiliation, distress, and loss of enjoyment.”

In June, Lumumba said a lack of anti-racism policies allowed a culture of discrimination to fester within Collingwood, which led to racist jokes and comments.

Lumumba said he was called “chimp” by some of his teammates during his career at the Magpies.

Collingwood have since launched an independent review into the culture of the club during Lumumba’s time there.

Lumumba played 199 games for Collingwood between 2005-2014.

He added a further 24 for Melbourne over two years before retiring at the end of 2016 after struggling to recover from repeated concussions.

 

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