Nine reporter Airlie Walsh sues network amid sexual harassment scandal fallout
The much-loved TV reporter filed the sex discrimination claim against her employer while on maternity leave with her son born in 2023.
Channel 9 reporter Airlie Walsh is suing the Nine network in the Federal Court amid the fallout of a sexual harassment scandal and damning report into the treatment of female reporters.
Leading employment law firm Maurice Blackburn, which is acting for Walsh, filed a claim against the company on November 29 according to the Federal Court’s website.
Walsh remains employed by Nine but has been on maternity leave since 2023 after the premature birth of her son.
The cultural reckoning at Nine was sparked by shock allegations made against former news boss Darren Wick who has since left the company.
The identity of the original complainant who prompted the investigation into Mr Wick in late 2023, has never been revealed.
Walsh has worked for Nine for 15 years, including as a producer on the Today show before working in Canberra as a political reporter and overseas.
In 2014, Airlie was one of two journalists broadcasting live from the CBD as police stormed the Lindt Café during the Sydney siege.
The nature of her claim against the Network remains unknown, and it’s not suggested the claim is related to Wick. What is known is that she has filed a human rights sex discrimination case against her employer.
Walsh endured a traumatic and challenging pregnancy in 2023 that included her newborn son Peter spending months in hospital following a premature birth.
In June, 2023, she posted a video to Instagram documenting the ordeal revealing, “After 53 days in hospital (15 for Mum, 46 for Petey) we’re finally home!”
“Every family’s journey is unique, and while we’ve had a challenging couple of months, what has become abundantly clear is just how lucky we actually are,’’ she said.
“To my friends and family, when I was in an emotional pit, you rallied. I’ll never forget it. And to @tomferrier, your love and sturdiness is immeasurable. We made it through because of you,’’ she said.
Today show host Karl Stefanovic’s call for action
Earlier this year, Today host Karl Stefanovic urged Nine to call out “perpetrators” of bad behaviour with a confession that he believed the “good men” of the broadcaster had let women down.
In the wake of the devastating personal testimonies of Nine staff who say they were bullied and sexually harassed, the TV host said he was devastated by the stories that had emerged.
“Many people are hurting,’’ he said.
Echoing the concerns of Nine stars including Deb Knight and Dimity Clancey who raised concerns at a meeting after the report was released, Stefanovic said he understood concerns that the report didn’t “name names”.
“They feel like what was the point of speaking out if perpetrators are not called out? I asked the same question yesterday and it’s my understanding several investigations are now underway and we have to be patient for the process of all that,” he said.
“It’s essential and it’s critical. I want to say it’s not about us, but there are good men who do work here at Nine who find what happened absolutely intolerable, who struggle to understand how we didn’t know more and do something, how it grieved you.
“I feel like we have all in a way, let you down. I love my work colleagues here. Women I have the honour to present with women on the floor of this great show.
“Women behind the scenes who make us all better. I’m grateful women are this company and they are the way forward. They will show the way. We just have to listen and act.”
Report into toxic culture
Intersection Pty Ltd was engaged by the Nine Entertainment Corporation (Nine) in May 2024 to conduct an independent review of Nine’s workplace culture (the Review).
The Review examined the prevalence and nature of abuse of power or authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment and the impact.
It did not extend to investigating or making findings about any individual incident or allegation.
The report into Nine’s toxic culture chose not to pass on the names of individual executives to Nine instead telling staff if they wanted to make individual complaints they needed to follow the usual processes.
Instead, it was a generalised report into the culture at Nine.
Traumatised Nine staff spoke out in the bombshell report about how they wanted to die working in the TV star factory, sharing what it was like to be “groomed” and “touched on the “bum”, and frozen out and put on “Punishment Island”.
In harrowing testimony current and former Nine employees have spoken out with men and women warning there was a “boys club” and that bullying, sexual harassment and abuse of power was rife.
One anonymous complainant told the inquiry: “While we like to believe that the #MeToo movement improved working conditions for women, the Nine newsroom reeked of a man’s locker room.”
“I had regularly overheard men … boisterously joke about sexual assault … and objectify women in general … I knew it was a ‘man’s place’.”
Another staffer said there were frequent sexualised comments in the newsroom: “It would not be uncommon to be asked or to hear: ‘Who did you f*** last night?’”
“This place is run like a boys’ club, and I say that as a male,’’ a Nine employee said.
Women said they were “groomed” and sexually harassed and that male reporters were automatically awarded the “serious” stories about crime and politics.
“When I was in [location] (X) tried to groom me. He also touched me on the bum at the Xmas party and at other times he would rub my legs under the table,’’ one woman said.
“Casual sexism and being held to a different standard than men were common experiences for women in the Broadcast Division,’’ the report finds.
Multiple employees said that working at Nine destroyed their mental health.
“Every day I would wake up with this knot in my stomach thinking, am I going to be screamed at, white-anted or publicly humiliated today, or is it someone else’s turn?’’ one said.
“Watching the humiliation happening to others was almost as bad as being the target, but at the same time you were grateful it wasn’t you that day.”
Unspoken rules for female reporters
“It’s an unspoken rule that the male reporters are automatically assigned all the serious hard-hitting stories – politics, finance and domestic violence, as if they are the only credible ones that will be taken seriously or considered trustworthy and reliable,’’ a female reporter told the inquiry.
“Women reporters seem to be there just to look pretty. Women’s right to report seems tied to appearance. A woman presenter was told when she got pregnant ‘why would you go and do that?; What is more important – the news content or what I look like?!
“He would act noticeably differently towards females, especially if they were giving him work. For example, with female producers he was more dictating, he’d say like ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, regardless of how experienced they were, like ‘I know best’.
“I was broken. I left the newsroom after a year. By the time I left my soul was gone,’’ a former employee said.
“It’s the news, we’re not bloody saving the world … it doesn’t need to be so damaging. It’s really damaging people who work here. (Individual) wages psychological warfare on people.
“When I left Nine I was a shell. I was broken. I had no confidence. I was worried about my income. It was a really horrible time.”
Staff said it was frowned upon to complain and take the issue further.
‘Never go to HR’
“It is drilled into us to never go to HR,’’ one Nine employee said.
“They are very much on the side of the company. Their attitude is ‘it’s not our fault this happened’.
The Review found very high prevalence rates of abuse of power or authority (62 per cent) in the Broadcast Division.
“Coupled with qualitative data gathered through interviews and submissions, these findings paint a picture of an organisation where accountability is lacking, where decisions in the workplace are made based on personal gain or preference, and where an individual’s role or status can be used to bully, harass or to ‘punch down’,’’ the report found.
More than half of all employees in the Broadcast Division (57 per cent) also reported experiencing bullying, discrimination or harassment.
‘Difficult reading’
The report has been described as “difficult reading” by Nine’s new Chair Catherine West, as she urged shell-shocked staff to reach out for support.
In a shock finding, the report has found that Nine has “a systemic cultural issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment”.
The report finds that “no department is immune and the results are concerning across the company. There is no place for this behaviour at Nine. For those engaging in this conduct, it needs to stop.”
Warning the Nine Board is “deeply disappointed and saddened by the findings” Ms West signalled it is likely to trigger further changes at the network.
“The report found Nine has a systemic cultural issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment. No department is immune and the results are concerning across the company. There is no place for this behaviour at Nine. For those engaging in this conduct, it needs to stop.”
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“The drivers of these behaviours are broad, however the report has told us there is a lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and a lack of diversity; and a significant lack of trust in the organisation and leadership at all levels of the business.”
Ms West also offered a formal apology to staff that were impacted by the culture.
“To our past and present employees who have experienced unacceptable conduct in the workplace, as a Board, we are deeply sorry. We unreservedly apologise. You should not have had to endure this conduct,’’ she said.
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