Judge raps silk for calling Seven ‘one of the biggest boys’ clubs’

Julian Burnside QC was reprimanded yesterday by Supreme Court judge John Sackar for ‘throwing mud’

Top human rights silk Julian Burnside QC was reprimanded in court yesterday for accusing Seven of being “one of the country’s biggest boys’ clubs” as he continued his defence of the former lover of Seven West Media boss Tim Worner.

Mr Burnside was scolded by Supreme Court judge John Sackar for “throwing mud” when he made his rebuke of Seven as part of the ongoing legal stoush that was triggered when details began leaking of the messy breakup of Mr Worner and his former lover — Seven executive assistant Amber Harrison — late last year.

Seven has been trying since February to permanently gag Ms Harrison from publishing details of her affair with Mr Worner, which includes allegations of drug-taking and misuse of company funds. Those allegations have been denied by Seven.

The legal drama was back in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday as Mr Burnside and lawyers for Seven debated whether the case should be moved to the Federal Court in Melbourne.

Seven wants the case to stay in the Supreme Court where its lawyers are seeking a permanent gag order on Ms Harrison.

Mr Burnside wants the case transferred to the Federal Court, where Ms Harrison is suing Seven under the Fair Work Act for having failed to provide a safe workplace.

“It is in the interest of justice that Ms Harrison be able to litigate in the court she has chosen in the jurisdiction of the state where she lives, especially in circumstances where she is taking on one of the country’s biggest boys’ clubs,” Mr Burnside said in front of a packed Supreme Court in Sydney yesterday. Mr Burnside’s branding of the Kerry Stokes chaired company as a boys’ club prompted an immediate interjection from Seven’s barrister, Andrew Bell SC, who labelled the claim as “outrageous”.

Justice Sackar was not happy with the remark and accused the prominent silk of “throwing mud”. “That was entirely in­appropriate,” he said.

“It was gratuitous, it was uncalled for. I’m not even going to tolerate that kind of comment.

“Your client made a choice to file a cross-claim in this jurisdiction in these very proceedings. You should start from a more ­accurate basis before throwing mud in my court, Mr Burnside.”

Seven’s legal team argued yesterday that Ms Harrison should not be allowed to sue the company because she signed an “extremely broad” release promising not to take legal action.

“The weight of the dispute in this case arises on Ms Harrison’s claims …. And those claims cannot be debated in this court because the Federal Court has exclusive jurisdiction,” Mr Burnside said.

Mr Bell said transferring the proceedings was a classic case of “the tail wagging the dog”.

Justice Sackar said he would make a decision on the transfer by next week.