Class action mounting against Nine for ‘sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination’
A class action lawsuit against Nine is becoming more and more likely, as Maurice Blackburn has put out a call to women in the commercial television industry who have been affected by sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination.
The law firm put out a public statement saying it is “currently assisting a number of women in the commercial television industry to pursue claims of sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination”, but didn’t specify a particular network.
“We believe that there may be many other women who have been affected, either by witnessing such conduct or by experiencing it. If you have information that could assist our clients, or if you wish to get advice about your own experience, please contact us.”
Joshua Bornstein, principal lawyer and head of employment law at Maurce Blackburn, told the AFR — a Nine-owned masthead — that the law firm was currently “acting for a number of women in commercial television across the networks with remarkably similar experiences and stories to tell”.
The paper also reports Maurice Blackburn is acting for the woman who filed a formal complaint against Nine’s disgraced former news boss, Darren Wick.
Bornstein suspects some women have signed NDAs that makes public redress difficult, calling this “ironic in an industry that prides itself on shining a light on stories in the public interest”.
Darren Wick
While a class action, which requires seven or more complainants, wasn’t mentioned, Bornstein said: “The more women that come forward, the stronger their position will be to get some form of redress. One of the things NDAs often do is mask the reality for other women experiencing similar behaviour.”
Wick has reportedly been the subject of complaints from “more than a dozen former and current TV journalists from the Nine Network”, which could certainly be cause for a class action.
3AW Mornings host Tom Elliott claimed on-air last week he knows of “four women who all allege some very bad behaviour by Darren Wick,” stating “I know the four women – and I think they are telling the truth” and the behaviour “ranges from belittling and berating female employees in front of their colleagues to sexual harassment”.
A Nine personality told Sky News that, during a Logies after party on the Gold Coast last year, Wick “was gropey, he had his hands everywhere, breathing heavily in my ear, I had to peel him off me”.
The unnamed on-air personality also said of Wick, who spent close to three decades at Nine: “It was commonplace for him to drink heavily at functions and he would often get in women’s personal space. We were revolted by him.”
It comes after Nine board and CEO Mike Sneesby insisted they are on the same page, following speculation that Sneesby is on the outer.
A statement sent to staff last week read that “the group leadership team is united with the board, and working closely, to ensure our workplace is one of respect, safety and inclusion”.
Subscribe to the daily newsletter
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
the sales team at Nine are the worst for this, rotten from the top down, get rid of them
User ID not verified.
I remember seeing a group of very senior Nine executives attend an afterparty of an industry event at a backpacker’s bar in far north Queensland a few years ago.
From that limited experience I can confidently say that none of the recent revelations surprise me.
User ID not verified.
Loads of that went on at a certain pay tv network as well.
The pigs pedigree were at the regular FTA channels… most have grey (or no) hair now and are still at it by all accounts 🐷
User ID not verified.
the real news story is always in the mumbrella comments
User ID not verified.
Hey Miss Manners… you have no idea what you’re talking about. None..at..all. ‘Ambulance chasers” give me a break. This has been going on for decades and everyone in the industry has seen it and knows it to be true. Women in television have had to tolerate it before now because there was no recourse, no one to go to. If every woman who faced discrimination or drunken behaviour in TV came forward you wouldn’t have a court big enough to hold them all. Bring it on. About time the dinosaurs were weeded out.
User ID not verified.
Another example of opportunistic lawyers leaping on the bandwagon to feather their own nest.
User ID not verified.
Agree with the above, however the objective in most of these cases is an out of court settlement rather than a court victory. I would hazard a guess that Nine would be racing to settle given their history of NDAs.
Unfortunately, we may never know just how much piggery was actually tolerated and probably celebrated by the other pigs in management.
User ID not verified.
Hearsay is not proof. It will be an uphill battle for these ‘ambulance chasers’ and these plaintiffs
User ID not verified.
Have your say