Thirteen women have accused former Seven reporter Robert Ovadia of “inappropriate behaviour”, the Federal Court of Australia has heard.
The former Sydney senior reporter for the television news network is taking legal action against his former employer, claiming he was unlawfully terminated.
Ovadia, 51, was sacked from Seven in June as the network was conducting an internal review into allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”. He is accused of sending inappropriate content to colleagues, including edited photos and a caricature of a colleague, as well as a photo from the internet of a flaccid penis to another colleague.
Now, Ovadia is proceeding with legal action against the network and Seven’s news editor-in-chief, Anthony De Ceglie.
According to the statement of claim from barrister Andrew Gotting, Ovadia’s legal counsel, read in the Federal Court of Australia yesterday, Ovadia claims these incidents do not amount to sexual harassment.
“No reasonable employer could have formed form the view that the conduct amounted to sexual harassment, the photo was not conduct of a sexual nature,” the statement read.
In response to the proceedings against them, legal counsel Vanja Bulut, on behalf of the Seven network, said there were 13 women who have brought complaints against Ovadia. The women spoke up after he was dismissed in June.
“Subsequent to the applicant’s dismissal, 13 more females have come forward with complaints in relation to his conduct, and they’re now subject to investigation,” Bulut told the court.
“The applicant has been put on notice of that. That is, my instructors have written to our learned friend’s instructors, setting out the additional allegations that have come to light subsequent to the dismissal and to the extent that those allegations are recorded in documents.”
The justice overseeing the hearing yesterday, Justice Elizabeth Raper, ordered both parties to attend mediati\on at a date to be determined in October before a judicial registrar. All must attend in person, Justice Raper said.
‘Don’t Speak’
Allegations of Ovadia’s misconduct came to light in a recent ABC Four Corners investigation. The program uncovered a culture of misogyny and inappropriate behaviour that was pushing women out of the network.
According to the investigation, staff in managerial or senior positions used threatening, inappropriate behaviour directed at staff in more junior roles. Some women from the network came forward to allege experiencing workplace sexual harassment.
It’s not the only time the network has come under fire this year. Just this week, there was an allegation made in the media that female dancers dressed up as “sexy Santas” performed during what was described as a regular staff meeting.
There were earlier allegations of misconduct within the network this year as well. During the Lehrmann v Network Ten defamation trial, where Bruce Lehrmann was suing Network Ten for damage to his reputation, former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach gave evidence alleging Seven reimbursed Lehrmann for payments for illicit drugs, sex workers, expensive dinners and more in late 2022 and early 2023.
At the time, Seven’s news program Spotlight was filming an interview with Lehrmann, who was defending himself against claims that he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
While Lehrmann has and continues to deny the allegations, a civil trial found, on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann raped Higgins.
In the eleventh hour of the defamation trial in April this year, Taylor Auerbach testified to the Federal Court of Australia that the Seven network had paid for several expenditures before, during and after the Spotlight interviews with Lehrmann.
One of the largest invoices came from 26 November 2022. According to Auerbach, eight separate charges to Sensai Thai Massage amounted to $10,315.
In a statement to the media, Seven said the network did not condone or authorise any alleged payments to Lehrmann that Auerbach claims to have occurred.