The theatre company behind The Rocky Horror Show will no longer seek a suppression order over parts of Christie Whelan Browne’s sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination lawsuit, which they initially claimed was necessary to avoid causing “undue distress or embarrassment” to Craig McLachlan.
Lawyers for Whelan Browne filed a statement of claim in the Federal Court in Sydney earlier this month against Oldfield Entertainment, formerly known as GFO Entertainment, alleging she was subjected to repeated sexual harassment by McLachlan during the show.
Craig McLachlan and Christie Whelan Browne on stage during the Rocky Horror Show.Credit: Angela Wylie
“My claim is about my experiences when I was employed as a lead actor in The Rocky Horror Show in 2014 and then Oldfield’s response to my complaints from 2017 to date,” Whelan Browne said in a media release at the time.
Her lawsuit alleged Oldfield Entertainment “unlawfully discriminated against me under the Sex Discrimination Act by subjecting me to sex discrimination, repeated sexual harassment by a fellow cast member and to victimisation when I spoke out against him”, Whelan Browne said.
The Federal Court has yet to release documents in the case, and the parties will attend mediation later this year in an attempt to resolve the dispute out of court. At a first case management hearing in Sydney on Friday, conducted online, Oldfield Entertainment’s barrister Bronwyn Byrnes foreshadowed the company would apply for a suppression order over parts of Whelan Browne’s statement of claim.
Christie Whelan Browne.Credit: Nick Moir
Byrnes said criminal proceedings arising from related allegations resulted in McLachlan’s acquittal in December 2020, “and he’s not a party to these proceedings”. She submitted this was “an important factor to bear in mind”.
“The orders are necessary to avoid causing a non-party [to the proceedings]... undue distress or embarrassment, which could cause him to not cooperate in these proceedings, which would further prejudice the respondent’s defence,” Byrnes said.
“While there has been reporting in the media surrounding the [allegations in previous years] ... that reporting did cause Mr McLachlan considerable distress and embarrassment at the time and is therefore likely to be repeated if the order is not made.”
However, the Federal Court said in orders released hours after the hearing on Friday that “the respondent no longer wishes to make the foreshadowed application for suppression orders”.
Kate Eastman, SC, acting for Whelan Browne, had said during the court hearing that “from what I have seen, we’ll be able to tell Your Honour by reference to each particular paragraph of the statement of claim the matters that are already in the public domain”.
“My learned friend has made some observations about Mr McLachlan’s embarrassment. [We’ve seen] no evidence about that, but there also are matters of Mr McLachlan’s public comments about his defamation proceedings that are in the public domain, and those being matters that I think we or others may need to bring to Your Honour’s attention as well.”
Craig McLachlan arrives at the NSW Supreme Court with partner Vanessa Scammell in 2022.Credit: Nick Moir
McLachlan was interviewed on Channel 7’s Spotlight program in May 2021.
McLachlan launched defamation proceedings in 2018 against The Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC and Whelan Browne over reports alleging he indecently assaulted and sexually harassed female performers during the 2014 stage production of The Rocky Horror Show.
He abruptly abandoned the case last year, before the media organisations and Whelan Browne had called their witnesses to give evidence. He was ordered to pay legal costs, reportedly in the order of $2 million.
On December 15, 2020, McLachlan was found not guilty of criminal charges relating to his alleged conduct during The Rocky Horror Show in 2014.
McLachlan was acquitted of seven charges of indecent assault relating to seven alleged incidents involving four women, as well as being acquitted of related assault charges.
One of the four complainants was Whelan Browne, who consented to being identified.
Magistrate Belinda Wallington found the criminal charges were not established beyond reasonable doubt under the laws that applied at the time, but said that “were the current law applicable, it is possible that the result may be different”. She described the four complainants as “brave and honest witnesses”.
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