Seven boss Tim Worner snared in alleged sex scandal

A POWERFUL figure in Australia’s entertainment industry is at the centre of claims of ­secret pay-off deals to cover-up ­alleged sex romps with a former executive assistant at the company.

Seven West Media boss Tim Worner. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

SEVEN West Media boss Tim Worner is at the centre of claims of ­secret pay-off deals to cover-up ­alleged sex romps with a former executive assistant at the company.

Explosive allegations of a sizzling affair between the married CEO and junior employee Amber Harrison emerged on Sunday after long-running negotiations over a financial settlement broke down.

The revelations triggered a rout today in the share price for Seven West media, the parent group of the Seven Network.

In mid afternoon trading, shares in the group were down almost 10 per cent, or 8c, at 73.5c.

That means about $120 million has been stripped from the company’s market value.

Seven West has not issued a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange about Ms Harrison’s claims, or about the potential ramifications for Mr Worner’s position.

Ms Harrison claims she has already been paid more than $150,000 and asked to sign paperwork promising to keep quiet about the illicit relationship, which she says began in late 2012 and ended mid-2014.

Amber Harrison.

The former Seven West executive assistant claims she and CEO Mr Worner had a consensual relationship for more than a year, meeting for sex at her home and ­attending high-profile events together, including the Australian Open tennis.

The couple exchanged hundreds of explicit text messages and emails, she claims.

“We started flirting and soon after (he) began texting and emailing me for sex,” the woman claims in documents widely distributed yesterday.

“I knew he was married. It was never about love. It was about sex and power.”

But she claims the relationship ultimately triggered an emotional breakdown.

“He would walk past and not speak to me or acknowledge me and it became extremely difficult to manage the situation in the workplace,” she claims.

Ms Harrison says she has decided to come forward after three failed attempts over two years to negotiate a settlement with her former employer.

She claims the affair ended in 2014, and soon after she was investigated for alleged fraud and encouraged to resign.

After confessing the affair to human resources bosses, she claims she signed a deed of release which saw her shifted to a new role in the company.

A second agreement allegedly signed would have given a generous redundancy, plus $100,000 compensation for psychological harm, loss of professional standing, stress and humiliation “as a result of events during the employment”, she says.

But she claims that agreement fell over and subsequent negotiations have soured. She has also lodged a claim with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Seven’s public relations chiefs yesterday declined to comment. A Seven source said Mr Worner had apologised for an inappropriate relationship, and claimed money the media organisation paid to Ms Harrison was “in sympathy” because she had declared herself mentally unwell.

Ms Harrison last night said she feared legal reprisals for speaking out, but she felt she had no choice.

“I will not allow the threat of being sued to take away my right to speak,” she said.