Journalist Tegan George to hit Network Ten with sexual discrimination complaint

Tegan George will hit Network Ten with another complaint as the political reporter’s court fight against her employer ramps up.

Journalist Tegan George’s case against her employer Network Ten has come before court for the first time since the bombshell lawsuit was lodged, with her lawyers set to hit the media company with another complaint.

The 37-year-old political reporter is suing Ten in the Federal Court over “toxic bullying culture” she allegedly endured while working alongside The Project’s Peter van Onselen in the Canberra bureau.

She has been on leave since the middle of 2021, with documents filed in the Federal Court in January naming Network 10’s political editor among a number of employees.

The matter faced court for the first time on Monday for a case management hearing in front of Justice Anna Katzmann, where Ms George’s barrister Siobhan Kelly revealed she would be filing a claim alleging sexual discrimination.

“I have received recent instructions to file the claim alleging sexual discrimination,” Ms Kelly said.

“It’s mandatory to file the complaint in the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) … that claim will be filed as soon as possible.

“My client will ask the AHRC to terminate it and bring it to this court.”

George has been on leave since the middle of last year and has deactivated her social media accounts — including a Twitter account that was hugely popular. Picture: Ten

Ms Kelly said her client would be taking the steps within the next “week or two”.

The court also heard Ms George was in hospital seeking medical treatment.

Justice Katzmann made orders for an amended statement of facts to be served by April 1, with both Ms Kelly and Ten’s legal teams to agree on an amended statement of facts before another case management hearing after April 24.

Court records show a statement of claim was lodged by Ms George at 9.54am on January 31 over an alleged “breach of general protections”.

In the document, Ms George says she was belittled and humiliated by van Onselen, which he denies.

Documents refer to a conversation with a Network Ten executive director about Van Onselen in which he allegedly called the political editor “bat**it crazy” but “didn’t give a s**t how she was feeling, and said “we just have to get used to it”.

When she took up her role in the Canberra bureau Ms George was often told to write van Onselen’s packages in addition to performing her own work, court documents state.

Ms George brought up what was happening to the executive director, who told her the bureau had “always been toxic” and she needed to “deal with it”.

The lawsuit claims the “toxic bullying” culture at the Canberra bureau had reduced Ms George’s “standing and reputation” as a journalist.

According to court documents, van Onselen refused to talk to Ms George, she was made to move desks and accused him of being “rude, intemperate, condescending and patronising, was snubbed of invited to coffee meetings with other staff and she was told to apologise to van Onselen for complaining about having to write his stories.

Journalist Peter van Onselenhas been named in court documents for Network 10 political journalist Tegan George. George is taking the network to court over an alleged breach of the Fair Work Act. Picture: Rohan Thomson/Getty Images

“Ms George was subjected to workplace gossip, Ms George’s standing in the workplace was reduced and Ms George was denied the quiet enjoyment of her profession,” the statement of claim alleges.

Ms George has also accused the political editor of sabotaging her career and trying to make a star out of rival reporter Stela Todorovic to “get back at her”.

She claims executives later said van Onselen had “pumped up Ms Todorovic’s tyres too much” because he “had issues with Tegan and his agenda was to make Stela a star”.

Tensions came to a head when Ms George claims she overheard sexist remarks by two men about a female colleague and reported it internally, but said she did not want to make a formal statement.

Ten lodged its defence to Ms George’s legal claim on February 25, claiming she avoided participating in the sexual harassment investigation.

The network called many of her claims “vague and embarrassing”, and “liable to be struck out” in the document.

It relies on a text message sent to the network’s Canberra bureau chief Achim Bormann on May 10, 2021, where she allegedly said: “Just so you know, I told HR I will not be giving a statement, speaking to them or participating in their ‘investigation’ in any way.”

“If it was something I wanted to take further, I would have said something in the moment.

“Or even in the week after. I need to do what I expect others would afford me in the same situation. See you tomorrow…”

Ms George claims she was then put under pressure to take part in the investigation and threatened with disciplinary action.

Days after being allegedly threatened, Ms George took leave after being hit with sleeplessness, stress, anxiety and vomiting. She has not returned to work since.

Ten claims van Onselen did not work in Canberra often during Ms George’s employment.

The network alleges she was only asked to write ten of his 200 reports during that time, and she reported to the executive director, Anthony Murdoch, not van Onselen.

The case continues.