Amber Harrison breached gag order, Seven West Media alleges

Seven accuses ex-employee of ‘disobedience’ by speaking to newspapers and posting on Twitter

Seven West Media has served papers on former employee Amber Harrison, who they allege is in contempt of court for deliberately breaching an order banning her from talking about the network.

In an affidavit filed in the New South Wales supreme court on Wednesday, a legal representative for Seven, Ruveni Kelleher, said Harrison was in “contumacious disobedience and contravention of the orders” by speaking to newspapers and posting on Twitter.

In July NSW supreme court Justice John Sackar ordered the former executive assistant to pay Seven’s substantial legal costs and comply with a gag order not to comment on the company or her affair with the chief executive, Tim Worner.

But Harrison has spoken to journalists and commented on social media since the order was made.

“I made a decision that I couldn’t go on without telling the truth and without telling it the way I did, so no, I don’t regret it,” she told the ABC after the July case.

“At the start, this was about a spat with two people, but this has turned into something very different.

“This is a company that signed me into agreements and then didn’t honour them, and the idea that I’m not supposed to stand up for myself when that happens is wrong.”

According to the contempt proceedings documents, Harrison is in breach of the gag order because she gave interviews to ABC TV’s 7.30 and ABC Radio Melbourne, and from 27 September used her Twitter account in contravention of the court.

Last week Seven’s lawyers wrote to Harrison warning her she was in breach of the gag order.

The letter accused her of “a blatant breach of the orders made against you by Justice Sackar on 17 July, 2017”.

Last month Harrison tweeted about her experience with Seven in relation to the current spate of allegations against high-profile men in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

“Imagine if my story dropped today,” Harrison said on 29 November on Twitter. “How would that have played out in the current climate.”

After the case was settled in July, Seven said: “Seven West Media looks forward to putting this matter behind us.” Seven has not pursued Harrison for legal costs.

Worner has survived the lengthy scandal with the support of the chairman, Kerry Stokes, and he directly addressed the affair at a shareholders’ meeting in February.

“Over the past two months much has been written and discussed concerning the ongoing claims of a former employee,” Worner said.

“I have apologised for what did happen and we don’t wish to give any more oxygen to things that did not happen. The company has made a number of public statements on the matter and will continue to keep the market informed.”

Contributor

Amanda Meade

The GuardianTramp

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