Melbourne has apologised to retired premiership player Steven May's partner, Sachi Dade, after he sued the club.
Dade is suing coach Steven King, football boss Alan Richardson and the Demons in federal court, over alleged breaches in privacy during a meeting with the club in February.
"It's something we as a club got wrong. We had good intent but if we had our time again I think we would acknowledge that was a mistake and we probably shouldn't have done that," King told the Agenda Setters.
"I will wait and see what the club want us to do from that point of view, but it's been settled now so we'll just move forward."
Demons chief executive Dan Taylor issued a statement, reiterating their mistakes and remorse towards Dade and May.
"In February 2026, (the) Melbourne leadership team divulged personal and sensitive information about Ms Dade. We acknowledge that this was inappropriate and constituted a serious invasion of her privacy," Taylor said.
"Ms Dade raised concerns about the conduct of Melbourne and its leadership team and advocated for change and for training.
"Our senior leaders, including the board, the incoming CEO and our leaders in the football department, are committed to taking all steps necessary to ensure this does not happen again.
"We sincerely apologise to Ms Dade and her family for the hurt, distress and impact our actions have caused."
May retired from the AFL on the eve of the season when he was on personal leave, making his announcement to step away from the game on social media in March.
"It's with a heavy heart that I've decided to step away and retired from the AFL," the post read.
"It's an incredibly tough decision to make on the eve of the season but I know it's the right one for myself, my family and the team.
"Right now the club, Kingy and the boys deserve some clean air and no distractions moving forward, and I wish the lads nothing but success ahead. Very exciting times for our fans."
His decision opened up a list spot before Opening Round, which the club used to elevate VFL gun Paddy Cross from the Casey Demons to the senior side.
The inaugural Gold Coast Sun spent eight seasons in Queensland, two of which were captain, before he made the move to the Demons ahead of 2019.
May featured in Melbourne's drought-breaking premiership in 2021, and was named in the All-Australian side in that year, and in 2022.
He finished with 251 AFL games.
