Seven Network quietly settles case with former Spotlight producer Amelia Saw

Seven has finalised a case brought by ex-Spotlight producer Amelia Saw which threatened to expose the network’s ‘dirty linen’, but the details of the settlement are to be kept a secret.

Former Spotlight producer Amelia Saw has settled her case against Seven.

Seven West Media has quietly settled a Fair Work case brought by ex-Spotlight producer Amelia Saw which threatened to expose the network’s “dirty linen”, following a confidential mediation in the Federal Court.

The case’s publicly accessible court listing says the matter has been “resolved” and the mediation file has been closed, ending a drawn-out dispute over “embarrassing” allegations Ms Saw levelled at the network.

Neither Ms Saw nor Seven wished to comment on the settlement.

The resolution comes after Federal Court judge Nye Perram granted a suppression order over key details of the matter.

The suppression order was supported by Seven but opposed by Ms Saw and three other media organisations – the ABC, Nine and News Corp Australia (the owner of this masthead).

Seven barrister Kate Eastman, SC, last month argued the release of the documents would prejudice the administration of justice, and said the chances of settlement would be enhanced if Ms Saw’s allegations were not aired publicly before mediation.

She said the release of the documents would result in a mediation occurring “in a fish bowl” where “no one knows what’s going on in that room but everyone knows what might be discussed”.

Ms Saw’s settlement is the latest in a series of scandals to have plagued Seven.

But Ms Saw’s counsel, Philip Boncardo, said Seven wished to conceal the documents to “avoid embarrassment” which should “never should be a basis” for a suppression order.

While Justice Perram agreed embarrassment was not a good enough reason for the documents to be suppressed, he ultimately said the public release of the material could “imperil” the mediation.

“To be crude about it, keeping the details of Ms Saw’s allegations out of the news is something Ms Saw can offer to Seven in their settlement negotiations,” Justice Perram wrote in his judgment on October 18.

“Once the allegations are public, on the other hand, that bargaining chip will be off the table.”

Ms Saw’s case was just the latest in a long list of scandals plaguing Seven this year.

In April, ex-Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach disgraced the network with allegations that Seven paid for former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s prostitutes and cocaine while wooing him to hand over his exclusive interview rights in the wake of the Brittany Higgins saga. Mr Lehrmann denies the allegations.

Former reporter Robert Ovadia launched unfair dismissal proceedings against the network in August.

The Australian at the time revealed Ovadia had sent an image of a flaccid penis to a male colleague requesting “Dick pics” in relation to a court case involving a man named “Dick”.

Ovadia discontinued proceedings against Seven in September.