Nine asked dumped TV exec Amanda Paterson to delete ‘sacking’ tape

Recordings of former Nine Brisbane news boss Amanda Paterson being fired have surfaced including the part when she was asked to delete the legally-obtained audio | LISTEN TO THE RECORDINGS

Former Nine Brisbane news boss Amanda Paterson, inset, and the network’s national news boss Fiona Dear.

Former Nine Brisbane news boss Amanda Paterson was asked by the company’s human resources department to delete a legally-obtained audio recording of the meeting during which she was sacked by the network’s national news boss Fiona Dear.

On November 7, Paterson — who had worked for Nine for 31 years — was summoned to a snap meeting in the boardroom of Nine Brisbane’s Mount Coot-tha headquarters.

Dear attended the meeting via videolink from Sydney, and in a seven-minute Zoom call, she informed Paterson her contract, which still had eight months to run, was being terminated, effective immediately.

Paterson was told that the reason for her dismissal was her failure to properly manage the contract negotiations of her staff in a “timely manner”, her delay in completing mandatory online training modules, and her use of inappropriate language at an office party when she said to employees: “We’ve got rid of all the dickheads at Nine.”

It’s understood that Nine characterised Paterson’s alleged transgressions as serious misconduct, and Paterson was not permitted to return to the newsroom to farewell staff, nor was she able to retrieve her dog from her office.

Pepe the poodle was later returned to Paterson at a location off-site.

In an audio recording of the Zoom call between Dear and Paterson, obtained by The Australian, the Brisbane journalist queries why she hasn’t been given the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

Paterson: “When is my team being told about this?”

Dear: “Some time this afternoon.”

Paterson: “Are you serious? ­F--k. Oh my God. So I have no recourse on this? Is that right? So none of all of these allegations, they’ve not even been substantiated? Or investigated? Or I haven’t been asked to defend myself?”

Dear: “Pato, you need to take the letter away and you need to read the letter.”

Later in the conversation, Paterson asks Dear what her newsroom colleagues have been told about her sacking.

“All the newsroom will be told is that you are leaving the business today. We will not be saying anything else,” Dear says.

Paterson asks if she can be given 24 hours “just to get my head around this, please?”

Dear responds: “I’m not sure that the outcome is going to change.”

Later that evening, Dear became aware Paterson had made an audio recording of the meeting. In Queensland, it is not an offence to make covert recordings of private conversations.

The following day, a representative from Nine’s People & Culture department phoned Paterson, telling her that Dear would like her to delete the recording of the termination meeting.

“Look, I know that we had that slightly awkward moment there at the end about the recording,” the human resources employee said to Paterson.

“It would be my suggestion that you delete it and try if you can, to satisfy Fiona that you have done so.

“I think in the spirit of maintaining a good relationship, that’s just my opinion. It obviously is for you to decide what you do with that, but that would be my suggestion.”

Paterson replies: “Right.”

The recording was not deleted. The Australian has also obtained a copy of the phone conversation between Paterson and the Nine staffer from HR.

The Australian did not receive any of the aforementioned audio recordings from Paterson.

Paterson is seeking a seven-figure sum from Nine for unlawful termination, reputational damage and personal hurt.

The parties will engage in a further court-ordered conciliation hearing this week.

On Sunday, Paterson said Nine was deliberately trying to tie her sacking to last year’s so-called Intersection review, which was commissioned by then company CEO Mike Sneesby to investigate widespread allegations of harassment and bullying at the media organisation.

Paterson told The Australian that no evidence has so far been produced that indicated she was the subject of any internal complaints submitted to the cultural review.

“They are trying to infer that I’m part of a toxic, bullying culture but actually what they are doing to me is the very definition of bullying,” Paterson said.

Nine declined to comment.