- Darlene Badenoch is in legal battle with Moonee Ponds club
- She is seeking damages and an apology over her claims
A keen lawn bowler has taken legal action against her local club after claiming she was dropped from teams because officials believe her cancer battle made her too unreliable to compete in top sides.
Darlene Badenoch, 53, was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in September 2022 after doctors found tumours in her neck.
She alleges officials at the Moonee Ponds Bowling Club in Melbourne’s north – where she spent years as one of the best bowlers in the top division – demoted her several divisions after she took a break to fight the disease in the 2022-2023 season.
‘I got a phone call from a selector saying that I had been demoted to division seven,’ she alleged in remarks made to News Corp.
‘I was devastated, all I wanted to do was play bowls, it’s the one thing I had to look forward to at the end of the week.
‘I said, “Don’t do this to me.” I begged him, “Please, just give me a game, I’m playing well.”‘
Darlene Badenoch (pictured) has sued Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds Bowling Club for allegedly dropping her from their team due to her cancer diagnosis
Badenoch (pictured at the Moonee Ponds club) was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in September 2022 and alleges the club said her illness made her ‘unreliable’
Badenoch took the club to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in 2023, seeking $5000 and an apology for being discriminated against on the basis of her illness.
‘It was the only thing I had, other than my kid, during that time that really kept me going,’ she told the ABC.
‘I was devastated. My son could hear me crying from outside, he came to see if I was OK.
‘I was in the mix of having chemo. I didn’t know if it would work or wouldn’t.
‘The director of bowls said to me that my cancer, my illness, made me unreliable.’
When the matter was heard by VCAT late last year, the tribunal heard Badenoch attended a meeting on February 4, 2023, at which club representatives repeated their decision to demote her, News Corp reported.
‘I walked out of that meeting crying hysterically,’ she said.
Moonee Ponds secretary Jozsef Salik told the hearing Badenoch was demoted as part of the club’s plan to ensure she was ready to play in the finals as they sought to give her a gradual way back into the game after she had missed matches due to her cancer fight.
The Moonee Ponds Bowls Club (pictured) has rejected Badenoch’s allegations and claimed officials acted out of concerns for her health
The hearing also heard claims that the club asked Badenoch to apologise for an alleged verbal attack she made at an official at the February 4 meeting.
She was suspended for two matches as a result of her comments at that meeting.
The bowler told the tribunal she believed that request for an apology was offensive and it spurred her on to take the legal action after mediation broke down.
Badenoch has now switched to the rival Moonee Valley Bowls Club and is now playing in their top division.
‘I wanted to stay loyal but then they went and did that, I couldn’t believe it,’ she explained.
In 2023, club president Ian Harvey said, ‘MPBC has always been concerned for Ms Badenoch’s health and welfare and wish her only the best with respect to her health concerns. We regret she has seen fit to enact such actions.’
VCAT’s verdict on the matter is not due to be handed down until later this year.
