The Australian Paralympic Committee has strongly rebuked Australian Olympic Committee supremo John Coates for using the term "sheltered workshop" as he criticised a staff member with cancer who he claimed was under-performing.
Paralympic Committee chief executive Lynne Anderson said comments such as Mr Coates' made it much more difficult for people with disabilities in their "ongoing fight for respect".
The rebuke came as Mr Coates faced a board meeting on Wednesday evening, during which it was expected some board members would push for a broad inquiry into a "culture of bullying" within the Australian Olympic Committee.
The bullying crisis at the AOC has already forced one senior employee, media director Mike Tancred, to stand aside pending an investigation into claims made against him by former chief executive Fiona de Jong. Mr Tancred has denied the allegations.
At its meeting on Wednesday night, the AOC board agreed to appoint an independent committee, comprising three senior counsel or retired judges, to investigate Ms de Jong's complaint.
A separate independent review - overseen by the incoming CEO - will be held into "workplace practices" at the organisation.
There was no decision to investigate Mr Coates' own behaviour, after a series of emails came to light, in which he appeared to denigrate the performance of a young female staff member who had cancer.
In one email, addressed to senior AOC staff, Mr Coates wrote that a young woman employee, who was being treated for cancer, should "get out in the real world", because the AOC was not a "sheltered workshop". In others, he criticised the young woman's performance and encouraged her to quit.
Mr Coates knew the woman had cancer, and her boss at the time, Ms de Jong, said she had barely missed any work days during chemotherapy.
Paralympic chief Ms Anderson told Fairfax Media her organisation's board had agreed on Wednesday to publicly state their objection to Mr Coates' "sheltered workshop" jibe, which "portrays disability in a negative light".
"We get it day in day out with our people, and not just paralympians, but people with disabilities generally, and especially with regard to employment," Ms Anderson said.
"In particular, our amazing Paralympic athletes show us every day how to push through life, and this statement is really unhelpful.
"The tone is meant to denigrate; it comes across as denigrating and that's the bit we take exception to. Not just our Paralympians, but all people in the community with a disability.
"It's just such a hard battle."
The email exchange in question appears to have started after the woman drew attention to a drafting or typographical error in the AOC constitution that may need to be changed.
The chief financial officer, Sue O'Donnell, drew the issue to Mr Coates' attention, and he responded with a scathing email sent to six people, including much of the senior management of the AOC.
"After [the staff member's] stuff-ups in taking and loosing [sic] uniform measurements, she'd be wise to worry about improving her general performance in the Sports Department before venturing again into the area of drafting in which she has previously shown herself incapable," Mr Coates wrote.
To Ms O'Donnell, Mr Coates wrote: "Please try to be more discerning before worrying me with crap like this again."
The email trail shows the young woman immediately drafted her resignation letter, but Ms de Jong, her manager, tried to stop her from quitting. Ms de Jong wrote to Mr Coates at the time, saying the woman was "most upset" by Mr Coates' email and "the public manner in which your opinions were expressed".
"This was particularly so as she values your opinion and holds you in high esteem."
Ms de Jong also wrote that the woman was the only one qualified to help select the team for the Rio Olympics that year.
Mr Coates' reply was blunt: "Do not hold back on accepting [the woman's] resignation on my account. We have spoken about her poor performance on a number of occasions."
The reference to a "sheltered workshop" came from Mr Coates in an email the following day, which also went to a number of senior managers.
"[The woman] is a solicitor, hardly a junior member of staff. If she's offended it's probably time for her to get out in the real world. Ours is not a sheltered workshop. Kind regards, John."
The woman, like many others who have made allegations of bullying inside the AOC, resigned shortly afterwards.
Mr Coates faces a May 6 fight for re-election against former Hockeyroo Danni Roche, but has been plagued by allegations of a bullying culture inside the organisation.
Mr Coates wrote on Monday in a letter to the sports federations which will vote in the election that: "There is no place for bullying and I reject the suggestion of a culture of 'bullying' or a lack of action in response to allegations of it."
