Seven’s affair scandal has taken yet another turn with media reporting that former employee and mistress of the CEO, Amber Harrison, is set to sue the media behemoth for alleged damages for breach of contract.
Seven West Media (SWM) has a temporary gag order on Harrison and media outlets (including B&T) about reporting details of her affair with CEO Tim Worner.
Seven is currently petitioning the NSW Supreme Court to have the gag order made permanent, however, in a twist today Harrison’s legal team have threatened to sue SWM for breach of contract.
Basically, Harrison was promised over $400,000 of termination pay if she kept details of her affair with Worner quiet and promised to return confidential documents she’d accrued during her time at SWM. However, Harrison didn’t comply and SWM subsequently stopped her payments.
According to Fairfax media reports, Harrison is “considering returning fire and suing the media organisation for damages for breach of contract”. It added: “Harrison is considering arguing that she was not bound by the confidentiality obligations in the deeds because the agreements had been terminated or repudiated by Seven.”
The hearing also heard from Seven’s lawyers who claimed Harrison was in possession of “scurrilous and scandalous material” relating to her dealings with Worner and SWM.
The judge in the case, Justice John Sackar, appeared to side with Harrison’s legal team when he said, “This is not a censorship issue. I am not going to sit here as a censor.”
Harrison’s attempt to have the gag order lifted is set down for March 17th with a four-day hearing set down from July 10. Justice Sackar added that he hoped both parties would seek mediation in the interim.
