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Amber Harrison ordered to pay Seven legal costs

Updated: Seven says it "looks forward to putting the matter behind us" but Amber Harrison claims to be a victim of "corporate bullying."

Amber Harrison has been ordered to pay Seven’s legal costs, which are expected to bankrupt her, following her affair with CEO Tim Worner.

The NSW Supreme Court today ruled her social media posts had breached a confidentiality agreement in which the company agreed to pay her $427,418 in instalments for her silence.

Justice John Sackar found she acted “unreasonably” and ordered her to pay all the company’s legal costs. Costs are expected to amount to $250,000.

“The defendant (Harrison) has not satisfied me of any grounds for why she should not pay the costs,” he said.

In ruling against Harrison, Justice John Sackar delivered a blistering critique for running a case in the New South Wales Supreme Court without any admissible evidence to support her claims against Seven.

“These proceedings have, from the outset, been engulfed in a vitriolic atmosphere,” Justice Sackar said in his published judgement.

“The allegations from both sides, whether entirely true or not, have often been personal, scandalous, and sadly ripe for media and public consumption.”

The court action followed the collapse of mediation — the third between Seven and Harrison — over the fallout of her affair with Worner which began in 2012, and once it ended, exploded spectacularly into a three-year-battle over Harrison’s departure.

Harrison, who was not in court today, has already agreed to an order preventing her from speaking publicly about her affair with Worner or releasing information about the Seven Network.

Updated: Her Twitter profile denotes “Under a suppression order” but she has said the court helped Seven to bankrupt her.

https://twitter.com/_Amber_Harrison/status/886824994633793536

Statement from Seven:

Seven West Media welcomes the Supreme Court decision today.

The Court found that Ms Harrison engaged in numerous breaches of the settlement deed and her employment and these breaches were persistent and flagrant.

It found that Seven had every entitlement to commence proceedings under the Deed and conducted the
proceedings in an entirely orthodox and proper fashion.

The Court also rejected Ms Harrison’s contention that her rights under the settlement deed were manipulated by Seven.

The Court also found that Ms Harrison was given every opportunity to desist from her breaches, consent to the orders earlier and settle with Seven West Media from 27 February 2017.

Ultimately, Ms Harrison put on no evidence in support of her claims, which the Court held was because no such evidence existed.

It is regrettable that people Ms Harrison falsely and unfairly named in her failed Human Rights Commission complaint were forced to take separate proceedings to protect their names.

Seven West Media looks forward to putting this matter behind us.

Source: News Corp, ABC

18 Responses

  1. ” the company agreed to pay her $427,418 in instalments for her silence”
    Who at 7 signed off on offering $427K of share holders money for this?

  2. Harrison “won” in the media and on twitter, where emotions and prejudices rule and facts don’t matter. And egged on she proceed in court where you need evidence, despite the advice of her lawyers and several judges in previous rulings. The judge found that her actions were “unreasonable” and based on ” allegations she could not substantiate.”

    Yet according the academics and op-ed writers today, it’s still St Amber who has been martyred before the Patriarchy. And if Seven got away with it, then at least 2 AFL executives have been forced to don the Scarlet “A” and resign from their jobs in disgrace.

  3. So let me get this straight. They paid her hundreds of thousands of dollars not to speak about it. She reneged on the deal, and is upset that she now has to use all that money to pay their legal costs? Perhaps she should have quit while she was ahead?

  4. I guess we will never know the real truth, but on the surface both seem to have done the wrong thing, just unfair that a person who can not pay has to go to the wall, whilst the corporate bullies get richer, Have been in the same situation, with a corporate giant, Amber you have my sympathy. But chin up pick yourself up , dust yourself off and start all over again.

  5. Whoa, that is a big hit for Amber…..Funny how the AFL has dealt with what was deemed to be inappropriate workplace relationships in one way while their key fta broadcast partner has gone in a different direction….mmm

    1. Clearly the AFL women involved don’t have a “kiss and tell” attitude. Seven didn’t go “in a different direction”, the other party did..

      1. The executives resigned for ‘inapproprate’ workplace relationships at the afl, there is always fallout if it is an extra marital affair and the senior parties at the afl quit…..not the same at ch7 is it?

  6. Nothing to do with corporate bullies Read the judgment .Social media posts breached a confidentiality agreement in the original settlement. Confidentiality agreements are standard practice in these cases

  7. I’m so glad this was the outcome. Should send a message to troublemakers everywhere that you can’t just do whatever you like to stir the pot, you need to follow the law.

    1. What “law” was broken?

      Hint: none. She broke a private or commercial agreement, which in many ways are the opposite of laws (e.g. they can contain anything as long as it’s not actually, or likely to be considered, against the law…)

    1. She could have quietly walked away with $427k, but for reasons only known to her she pressed the issue. She voluntarily entered into mutually agreed legal contract that said confidentially applied. She then decided to breach that contract and use social media to essentially embarrass this person and 7 into a higher figure. The other party had every legal right to go after her for breach of contract. So it appears to me she was the bully here. She rolled the dice and lost. The judgement reflects the fact that she had nothing, evidence wise, to justify her action.

      I am all for the underdog, but in this instance all I saw was greed.

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