Amber Harrison stopped from reading full statement during court case against Seven West Media
THE former lover of Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner has been gagged in court from reading her three page statement, with the media company saying it contained information on confidential negotiations.
NSW
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AFTER months of legal wrangling, hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills and snipping in the media, the woman at the centre of a sex scandal involving Seven West Media boss Tim Worner was finally scheduled to have her day in court.
But barely the only words former executive assistant Amber Harrison got out on the phone hook-up from Melbourne were “Yes, Amber speaking” before Seven West Media lawyers successfully stopped her from having her say.
Ms Harrison had planned to read out a three page statement in the NSW Supreme Court hearing where Seven West Media is applying for a court order permanently restraining Ms Harrison from speaking about her affair or saying anything disparaging about her former employer.
But Seven West Media lawyer Andrew Bell SC objected to 90 per cent of the statement, telling Justice John Sacker it was “inadmissable” because it related to confidential negotiations between Seven and Harrison’s legal team.
In a polite but slightly exasperated voice, Ms Harrison asked: “He has left four paragraphs in three pages is that correct?”
Justice John Sacker told Ms Harrison he would only hear her on issues related to legal costs and any objections she has to the conditions of Seven’s proposed gag order.
“If you want to be heard on the indemnity costs I would certainly hear from you today but you won’t be heard on the history of the failed negotiations,” Justice Sacker said.
Ms Harrison asked for time to redraft her statement so she could read it out in court, and the case was adjourned until tomorrow.
Seven West Media is seeking a gag order on Ms Harrison after she went public about her two-year affair with Mr Worner in December last year and posted sensitive documents in relation to the broadcaster on social media.
Seven’s lawyers argue her social media posts breached the Deed of Agreement she signed when she left the company in 2014 following her report to management about her affair with Mr Worner.
In exchange for her silence Seven West Media agreed to pay her in instalments a total of $427,418 including $100,000 for “alleged injury, including loss of professional standing and reputation”.
After Ms Harrison went public, Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes and board member Jeff Kennett used the media to fire back, with Mr Kennett accusing her of misuse of a corporate credit card.
Ms Harrison is scheduled to read out her redrafted statement via telephone at 2pm tomorrow.
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