Ex-coach drops lawsuit, lifetime ban reduced to suspension

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This article was published 04/08/2024 (455 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former coach who sued Manitoba’s minor hockey authority has abandoned his lawsuit, saying expensive and challenging litigation forced him to accept an out-of-court settlement last month.

Plaintiff David Brown filed a motion to stop his case against Hockey Manitoba on July 24, court records show, ending his pursuit for a judicial review of the administrative body that governs minor hockey within the province.

Brown wanted a provincial judge to examine the organization to ensure its appeal processes are fair, reasonable and lawful. He claimed Hockey Manitoba unfairly upheld a St. Vital Minor Hockey Association decision to permanently ban him from coaching after a post-game dispute with a referee last year.

Brown attempted to appeal the decision with the association and Hockey Winnipeg before bringing it to Hockey Manitoba.

“We’ve all managed to look bad in some way — what’s disappointing to me is that I felt like I was the only one that owned up to anything I did wrong,” Brown said in an interview with the Free Press last week.

“I have been and always will be accountable for my own actions. I lost my temper at an official and I needed to be better, but I will also always stand up to abuses of power and bullying.”

According to court documents, Brown was an assistant coach for the under-18 St. Vital Bruins during a playoff game in March 2023 when he began to argue with official Ryan Sutherland.

The men have differing accounts of the incident, however, they both agree the argument began on the ice and ended in a shouting match in the parking lot of the St. Vital Centennial Arena.

Brown, who was representing himself in court, agreed to abandon his lawsuit and make no attempt to recover costs, which he estimated at around $4,000.

In exchange, his lifetime ban from coaching was reduced to five years.

As part of the settlement, he also discontinued litigation against Sutherland and Paul Krestanowich, Hockey Winnipeg’s vice president of operations.

Brown claimed Krestanowich, who chaired the committee charged with hearing his appeal, and Sutherland exchanged “inappropriate and prejudicial emails” before the hearing.

In one email, released during the court process and viewed by the Free Press, Krestanowich asked Sutherland to provide him with a statement detailing his version of the altercation with Brown.

“A simple written submission email to me is the easiest,” Krestanowich wrote. “We have enough witnesses to his crazy.”

Brown claims the statement demonstrated bias against him by the appeals chair.

He also alleged the lifetime ban initially imposed on him was heavy-handed and inconsistent with other disciplinary measures previously taken by the St. Vital Minor Hockey Association.

Brown cited a 2016 incident in which he was slapped in the face by an angry parent, who was later banned from attending any city hockey facilities or acting as an official for roughly one year.

“To date, no exemplar has been provided by governance to support their claims that my discipline was anything but excessive,” Brown said. “The bigger issue is that hockey’s governance can do what they want, and how they want. They are not accountable to anyone.”

The former coach asked the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner to review his allegations of procedural unfairness during his appeal.

In a response sent to Brown viewed by the Free Press, the office said it has no jurisdiction over Hockey Manitoba because it does not participate in the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport.

The office suggested Brown refer his complaint to Hockey Canada’s Independent Third Party, which is tasked with ensuring complaints are processed in a confidential, neutral and fair manner.

Hockey Manitoba’s lawyer sought to include a confidentiality provision (a standard feature in many out-of-court settlements) as part of the agreement. Brown refused.

Neither Krestanowich nor Sutherland will be permitted to participate in any future disciplinary issues against Brown or his children, according to the agreement.

Brown has prepared a letter for the Sport Manitoba board in which he asks the organization to consider introducing an independent regulator to provide oversight for Hockey Manitoba.

Brown is allowed to attend hockey facilities as a parent and fan during his suspension period, but cannot act as an official again until his suspension expires in October 2028.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca